


Saint's Rose

by Latham02



Category: RWBY, Saints Row
Genre: AU, Crime, Death, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Gen, Humor, Not a Crossover, Violence, dirty humor, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-26 02:59:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 146,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latham02/pseuds/Latham02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AKA Saint's RWBY. The Huntsmen are now out of work, and now Ruby and the gang are forced into crime to try and stay alive. Well, forced until they start having too much fun that is. AU inspired by dashingicecream on Tumblr. Not a direct crossover with Saint's Row.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Saint's Row AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/111775) by dashingicecream. 



みんな！

車は満タンだし

スーツケースには爆弾詰めている。

人生は短くて、行く道は危険が多い。

だから踊ろう！

-Party Poison

* * *

For longer than anyone could remember, only one thing stood between the people of Remnant and total annihilation: Huntsmen. Huntsmen were people who could use the power of their auras, along with a mystical element called 'Dust', to fight the evil forces of Grimm and keep the world safe.

That was, until man invented a new weapon to fight against the Grimm. A new kind of white Dust was discovered which, while harmless against beings with auras, could kill a Grimm of any size in one shot. This new Dust was called 'Thunder and Lightning' for the loud sound it made when fired from a gun, but the public shortened it to 'Thunder', and later to just 'Crack'. Within months of the invention of Crack, Grimm were wiped out from most of the planet and humanity began flourishing and expanding like never before.

But all was not well. Huntsmen, previously heroes of the people, suddenly became expensive luxuries rather than necessary defenders, and so the public began turning against them. It all came to a head when the ruling council of Vale fired all its huntsmen without notice and without giving them any of their promised retirement benefits. Some resisted this move, but those protests were met with deadly force. Many former Huntsmen were killed in the infamous 'crack'-down, one of whom was Taiyang Xiao Long. The other three kingdoms fired their Huntsmen as well soon afterwards, casting them off into the gutter.

Of the Huntsmen and Huntresses who survived, some were lucky enough to reintegrate into society and begin living normal lives. Most, however, were not so fortunate.

Shunned by society and with no practical skills of their own, many were forced to turn to crime to make a living. This is a story of two of those Huntresses who were forced to fight to survive. This is a story of family and loss, of triumph and failure, and of love and tragedy.

But, most importantly, this is a story about how one girl fucked some shit up.

* * *

It was a calm, dark night as Ruby Rose and her sister, Yang Xiao Long, loaded their handguns in an alleyway. Yang, who was currently stuffing her long blonde hair into a black ski-mask, wore a tight fitting black button-up shirt with a red collar and red cuffs. Only one button was buttoned, however, so her midriff and black bra were both clearly visible. She was also wearing tight Daisy Dukes, black combat boots, and tall white socks.

"Okay, Ruby, remember; we go in, grab the money, and get out. Don't use your semblance, and don't take off your mask. We can't afford to have our faces on wanted posters all over town" Yang explained to her younger sister.

"Relax, what's the worst that can happen?" Ruby replied as she played with her dual pistols. Ruby's short red hair was already hidden under a black ski mask, which itself was partially covered by her red hood. She also was wearing a long red cape, black combat boots, a puffy red skirt, a black corset, fishnet arm warmers, a red business coat with torn sleeves, a white polo, and a black tie.

"You mean besides your ridiculous getup?" Yang asked in response.

Ruby blushed and puffed up her cheeks angrily. "I told you, this is my 'crime' outfit. If you don't look cool while robbing someone, you might as will not rob them at all".

Yang smiled under her mask and laughed. "Well, don't get used to it; this is a one-time deal. We get enough money to get back on our feet, and then we put down our guns for good. Got that?"

"Yeah, put down our buns, or whatever" Ruby said as she continued twirling her guns on her fingers.

"Ruby, you really need to be careful with those things" Yang warned.

"Don't worry, I have the safety-"

Ruby was abruptly cut off by her pistol firing and putting a hole right through the trashcan that Yang was standing next to.

"Oops. Okay, now the safety is on".

* * *

"Freeze! Hands in the air!" Yang shouted as she burst through the front doors of From Dust Till Dawn with a pistol in one hand and a burlap sack in the other. "This is a robbery! Just put the money in the bag, and no one gets hurt!"

"Yeah, what she said!" Ruby said as she followed in behind her sister.

"Please don't hurt me!" the old man behind the counter said as he put his hand sup. "Take whatever you want!"

"Red, make sure there's no one else in the store." Yang ordered. "I'll stay here and get the cash".

"On it" Ruby replied.

Ruby did a quick once around the store, but didn't find anyone. She did find something that caught her eye, however.

"Hey Yan-er, Yellow! Take a look at this!" Ruby yelled.

By now Yang had collected as much money as could and walked over to where Ruby was. The manager, meanwhile, reached under his cashier counter as discretely as he could.

"They're having a sale on red Dust!" Ruby said excitedly.

"So?" asked Yang.

"We should totally buy some!" replied Ruby. "We have the money now".

"What?!" Yang exclaimed in disbelief. "Red, we're robbing this store. If you want some, just take it!"

"But it's such as good deal!" Ruby whined. "It would be criminal not to take advantage of it.

"We are criminals!" said Yang.

"Oh yeah".

Suddenly, a deep male voice came in over what sounded like a loudspeaker from outside the shop. "Attention thieves! Come out with your hands up! We have the store surrounded!"

Yang and Ruby ran to the front of the shop and looked out the windows and saw two cop cars already parked outside of the shop, with three officers dressed in grey pointing their guns towards the store and a fourth holding a megaphone.

"Shit" Yang said as she grabbed the store owner to use as a hostage. "Looks like we'll be here longer than we hoped".

* * *

Two hours later and their standoff with the police had only intensified. Even more cop cars surrounded the store, police ospreys hovered in the sky, and there were almost as many news cameras pointing at the store as there were guns.

"This isn't good" Yang said as she bit her lip. "We have to figure a way out of this. I'm too hot to go to prison".

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a way out of this eventually" Ruby said as she tried her best to hide behind the cashier's counter.

Their conversation was interrupted when they both heard a large crash coming from one of the back rooms.

"Aw crap" Yang moaned. "Go check that out, Red. I'll stay here and make sure the fuzz doesn't try anything".

"On it" Ruby responded before making dash for the back room. Inside, she quickly found the source of the noise; a SWAT team consisting of four officers were trying to make their way down from upstairs as quietly as they could, but one of them had accidently knocked over an empty jar.

"Contact sighted!" their leader shouted as soon as he spotted Ruby, but she quickly silenced him with two shots to the head.

Ruby dived behind a crate for cover as the remaining three retuned fire, sending splinters of wood in all direction. Ruby stuck her gun out from behind her hiding spot and fired blindly, managing to hit one of the men in the leg by wild luck alone.

One of the other two men took a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it right towards where Ruby was hiding.

"Hot potato!" Ruby called as she tossed it right back.

Panicking, the officer threw the grenade back, but Ruby just replied with a cheery "Hot potato!" before tossing it back again. This continued for two more rounds before the bomb finally exploded in the SWAT officer's hands, ripping the man's body to pieces and killing both him and the wounded officer nearby instantly.

Ruby finally left her hiding spot to inspect the dead bodies, convinced that she finally won the battle. But, the fourth officer had managed to reach cover in time, and was waiting just around a corner with his shotgun cocked and ready.

Whipping around the corner, the officer managed to catch Ruby by surprise and land a shotgun blast directly to her face. But instead of Ruby's face being reduced to a bloody pulp like the SWAT captain's, the only thing that was harmed was Ruby's ski-mask, which was seared off her face. The faint glow around her skin told the police officer all he needed to know about how that was possible.

"An aura?!" he exclaimed, scrambling towards his radio. "We have a code red here, I repeat, a code-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before Ruby shot him as well, leaving his dead body to bleed on the ground.

"I'll be taking this, thank you very much" Ruby said as she picked up the man's shotgun. She was about to head back to her sister Yang when she realized her face was a lot colder than it should have been.

"Oh no, my mask!" the girl said to herself. "What do I do, what do I do?!"

"Red, are you okay? Get out here! I have a plan!" Yang called from the front of the store.

"Coming!" Ruby called back. Pressed for time, Ruby reached under her skirt and reached for the only thing she could think of to use as a mask.

* * *

"Okay Red, here's what we-oh my gosh!" Yang said as she turned to face her sister.

When Ruby returned from the back room, her face was still concealed, but this time with Ruby's own red panties covering her face instead of a ski-mask.

"I, uh, lost the mask" Ruby explained, blushing.

"Whatever. One of the cop cars outside is way closer than the others, and I can see the keys are still in the ignition. If we make a run for it, we should be able to get out of here before any of their shots pierce our auras. Any objections?"

The owner of the store weakly put up his hand in protest but an angry glance from Yang made him put it back down.

"Okay then, on the count of three" Yang explained. "One, two, three!"

Yang burst through the front doors of the shop with her hostage being pushed in front of her and her sack of money tied behind her back. Ruby followed a second later, a bit confused.

"Wait, I thought it was 'one, two, three, go!'" she shouted over the hail of gunfire that was starting to come down at them.

It wasn't long before the man who the cops were there to save was taken down the police's own fire, leaving Yang with just her aura to block the bullets. It was enough, though, and she dove into the car and started the engine as quickly as she could.

"Red, get in here now!" she shouted.

Ruby fired two more shots from her shotgun before dropping it and diving into the passenger seat. Yang floored the gas pedal and smashed through the two cop cars in front of them and speeding off into the distance, ospreys and police cars in hot pursuit.

"Red, we need to shake them off our tail! Think you can handle that?" Yang asked as she handed Ruby her handgun.

"You got it!" Ruby replied before leaping out of the car window and onto the roof.

It only took a few well aimed shots to the engine blocks to disable the cars that were chasing them, but the ospreys were going to prove to be a bigger challenge. So, Ruby jumped straight into the air and landed directly onto the window of the cockpit of the closest one. She waved happily to the pilot inside and he waved awkwardly back before Ruby smashed open the window and tossed him out onto the streets below.

The rest of the cops in the osprey soon followed as she suddenly jerked the plane to the side and sent them all falling to their deaths. Ruby then saw that the other osprey was quickly closing in on Yang with a machine gun pointing at her tires.

"Hey!" she yelled as she rammed her craft recklessly into the other. "You leave my big sis-I mean, my accomplice, alone!"

Neither craft were designed to take this kind of collision and they both began spinning out towards the ground. They both hit the ground in massive explosion, incinerating anyone who was still inside the craft. There was no way anyone could have survived something like that.

Ruby landed on the ground gracefully a couple yards away.

"There you are" Yang said as she drove up to Ruby. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, you know, I just can't resist fried chickens".

* * *

After ditching the police car and finally making their way back to the rundown apartment where they lived, Ruby and Yang were safe at last. Yang immediately collapsed onto their dirty couch while Ruby took off her 'mask'.

"Eugh, it smells so gross!" Ruby said to herself as she sat down next to her sister.

"What did you expect? That thing was on your butt" Yang teased.

"Remind me to wipe more" said Ruby.

Ruby then started counting through all the money they had made. Her eyes glowed as the pile of cash in front of her grew higher and higher by the second.

"We did it Yang! We'll have to launder it, but we have more than enough to finally move out of this city!" Ruby said gleefully.

"Seriously?" Yang said, sitting up. She counted through the money herself and she saw it was true; they had enough.

"We finally did it!" Yang said, hugging her sister so tight that Ruby could barely breathe. "I knew we could do it eventually!"

"I never doubted it for a second, Yang" said Ruby. "Hey, let's check and see if the news is talking about us! I hope they liked my outfit!"

Yang turned on their dinky television and switched to the local news.

"-two dashingly dressed women escaped the scene with not only all of the store's money, but also the lives of fifteen police officers" the news anchor explained. "But, thanks to our own footage of the event, we have been able to identify the perpetrators".

The girls' jubilant mood instantly died as soon as the man said those words. What followed was a clip of Ruby firing her shotgun on the way to Yang's getaway car slowed down and then stopped. The camera then zoomed into Ruby's underwear, highlighted a section of it, and then flipped it upside down.

The tag on the panties read 'Property of Ruby Rose'.

"A former Huntress, Ruby Rose appears to be yet another one in a long line of former heroes turned criminal. Ruby's partner also matches physical descriptions of her half-sister, Yang Xiao Long, and the police are currently searching all of Vale for the two. If you have any information that could lead to their arrest, please contact-"

Yang turned off the TV before the news anchor could finish his message, leaving the two in a chilling silence for several seconds.

"Well, at least they thought we looked cool" Ruby said meekly.

"We blew it, Ruby" Yang said dejectedly as she slumped into their couch. "Even if we do get out of here, we're always going to be criminals and we'll always be running. It's over".

"Nope".

"What?" Yang asked. "We're wanted criminals, Ruby! We've hit rock bottom, and there's no climbing back up!"

"But is that really so bad?" said Ruby. "I mean, robbing that store, shooting those guns, killing all those people…it was pretty fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I have to admit that was all pretty cool" said Yang. "After going so long without a decent fight, it would be a shame to give it all up again".

"Then let's not!" Ruby said, picking her excitement back up. "You said it yourself, we're crooks forever now, so why don't we embrace it! No, we'll do more than that; we'll make it a business!"

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Yang said, cocking an eyebrow.

"That's right; we're going to start a gang!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, first, we're going to need a name" Ruby said determinedly. "How about…the Deadly Duo! No, that won't work when we get new members. The Sons of Samedi! Wait, we're not boys. Oh, I know! The Crazy Ladies In Trouble, or the C.L.I…wait".

While Ruby continued to fruitlessly come up with gang names, Yang glanced outside their window and saw two cop cars roll up to the front of their apartment.

"Uh, actually, I think the first thing we need is a hideout" Yang said, standing up. "Grab your stuff, Ruby; we're going on a field trip".

* * *

The two slipped out the back of their apartment as quietly as they could and started making their way towards the east side of town. Eventually they left the residential district and starting hiking up an incredibly steep hill.

"Yang, are we there yet?" Ruby whined as they continued marching through the early morning hours. "My feet are getting sore! I'm cold! I'm hungry! I'm…awestruck…"

Ruby and Yang finally had their destination in view; an enormous castle with ruined towers, desecrated gardens, and spent shell casing everywhere. What once had been green with life was now grey with death and despair.

"What is this place?" Ruby asked.

"This is Beacon Academy" said Yang. "It's where we both would have gone to school if Vale hadn't done in with the Huntsmen. It's also where dad…"

Yang trailed off, as if completing that sentence was too hard of a task for even her to complete. Ruby put a hand on Yang's shoulder and the older girl stopped in her tracks.

"It's okay, Yang. I'm still here" Ruby said, smiling. "I'm still here".

Yang smiled back and they continued making their way deeper into the school.

* * *

"Wow, this place is so cool!" Ruby said as she examined the detailed architecture of Beacon's hallways. "Why haven't any of the other gangs taken over this place yet?"

"Hey, who's there?" a voice called from around a corner. "Are you aid workers?"

The two sisters followed the voice and found what used to be Beacon's cafeteria, but was now an enormous tent city. Homeless men and women in tattered clothes were absolutely everywhere; some were eating beans out of cans, and others huddling around makeshift fires. Yang and Ruby could both see the stars through the collapsed ceiling of the once great hall.

"That's why" Yang said dejectedly. "You better get used to it; they're going to be our roommates for the next few months".

"Hmm, I think I have a better idea" Ruby said, reaching into Yang's backpack.

"Whoa, hey! What are you doing?" said Yang.

"Bingo!" Ruby said gleefully as she pulled out some bottles of whisky, a lighter, and some handkerchiefs.

"Hey, I was saving that for a special occasion!" Yang complained.

"I'd say murder's pretty darn special" Ruby said as she finished preparing her Molotov cocktails.

"Fire in the hole!" Ruby shouted as she lit and tossed the first one. Instantly, dozens of makeshift tents caught fire and people began to run screaming from the building. The lucky ones made it out okay, but many of the less fortunate ones fled the building screaming and on fire. The REALLY unlucky ones, though, were the homeless who tried to attack Ruby.

"Oh no you don't!" Yang yelled as her fist collided with the face of a man running towards Ruby with a knife. The impact was so strong that he was sent hurtling back into the inferno that he just escaped from, disappearing into it with a puff of smoke and dust. A few others tried to attack them as well, but they all met the same fate.

"I never knew spring cleaning could be so much fun!" Ruby said, clapping her hands together cheerfully. "Let's go clean out the rest".

* * *

One hour and two and a half dozen dead bodies later, Ruby and Yang succeeded in making Beacon's homeless population even more homeless than they were before. The school was mostly made out of stone, so the building was still intact by the time they were done, but they didn't have much else besides its cold grey walls to protect them from the elements.

Yang started piling up what was left of the shanty town into a large heap in the middle of the cafeteria while Ruby read some hold history books she found in Beacon's library.

"Hey Ruby…" Yang said, pausing for a moment to toss another corpse onto the pile. "Aren't you worried about them calling the cops on us, or something?"

"Did the cops ever care about us when we were bums?" Ruby asked back, not looking up from her book.

"Good point" said Yang. "Augh, this thing smells like a mountain of herpes".

"I've got it!" Ruby shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ruby, I didn't know" said Yang. "Maybe we can go see a doctor…"

"No, I mean I found the perfect name for our gang!" Ruby said, pointing to a page in the history book she had found. "The Saints!"

"The most famous group of Huntresses who ever lived?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, but we're going to be even famous-emer" Ruby said giddily. "We'll be the most legendary gang in the kingdom! No, in the entire world! I even drew us a gang symbol, see?"

Ruby pointed to a little rose she scribbled at the bottom of the page with a red pencil.

"A little narcissistic isn't it, Ruby Rose?" Yang teased.

"Er, no, it's supposed to be like us" Ruby said, stumbling in her speech. "Beautiful, but with deadly thorns!"

"Now that's just cliché" said Yang.

Ruby just puffed out her cheeks and blushed in anger and embarrassment.

"Well this gang was my idea, so I get to pick the gang symbol. So there!" Ruby said, emphasizing her statement by sticking her tongue out at her sister.

"Whatever you say 'boss'" Yang replied, laughing.

Yang took out a lighter and held a flame over the makeshift bonfire pile in the middle of the room.

"To The Saints!" Yang shouted.

"To The Saints!"

* * *

Yang awoke at noon on the cold hard floor a few hours later to find that her sister Ruby was nowhere to be found. Yang got up in a panic and started looking around the room until she realized that she could hear her sister's familiar footsteps approaching in the distance.

"Good morning sleepy head!" Ruby said cheerfully as she walked in with several plastic bags on her arms. "I was so excited that I couldn't sleep, so I went out and got us everything we need to be a successful gang!"

Ruby put down the bags and started taking out the items within them one by one.

"I have a bottle of red spray-paint, a rose stencil to help mark territory easier, some red bandanas, a gang-sign to Remnant translator book, some ice packs if we ever get a black eye, a boom box, some deodorant, new underwear, a few new handguns, bottles of every kind of Dust, and few hand grenades if we ever really get into trouble" Ruby said without stopping for breath. "Now let's conquer Vale!"

"Uh, Ruby, I'd hate to burst your bubble, but we're going to need a lot more than this" Yang said, trying to give her sister the bad news as gently as she could.

"What, you think we might need a motorcycle too?" asked Ruby.

"Ruby, do you know what gangs actually do?" Yang asked back.

"They rob banks, spray-paint everything, walk around playing really loud music, and get all the bitches" Ruby said. "Duh".

Yang let out a long, desperate sigh. "You have a lot to learn, little sis".

* * *

"Wow, this is even seedier than where we used to live" Ruby said as they walked the streets of Vale. "Where are we?"

"The southwest agricultural district" Yang explained. "It's not pretty, but it's what's being a gang is all about".

The agricultural district was the poorest official part of the city of Vale, and it showed. The pavement was broken and tattered, trash littered the ground, and crime was clearly quite abundant. It seemed like on every street corner that someone was handing money in exchange for a poorly disguised bags of drugs. Faunus men dressed in white shirts, black pants, black hoods, and grey masks could be seen openly patrolling the streets sub-machine guns.

"There is always going to be crime, Ruby" Yang explained quietly. "Being in a gang means taking control of it, by force if necessary, and making boatloads of cash from it. Drugs are as good a place to start as any".

"Okay, let's see if we can get some" Ruby said before making her way over to a nearby dealer.

The Faunus woman had long brown hair and even longer brown rabbit ears sticking out the top of her head. She was wearing a brown shirt with black jeans, and was currently smoking some kind of makeshift cigar. Her slouched posture and glazed over look in her eyes made it look like she had not been able to sleep over the last several days, but she perked up as soon as she saw Ruby walk up to her.

"Hey, I know you" she said. "You're the Panty Thief! Man, that was some rad shit you pulled last night". Ruby blushed self-consciously in response.

"Yeah, could you keep quiet about that please…" Yang said, coming to her sister's aid.

"No worries, bra" said the Faunus. "If I turned in every crook I saw, I'd be out of business. So, what are you two up to now? Going to rob another Dust shop?"

"We're starting a gang!" Ruby said excitedly. "Give us your drugs".

"Ruby!" Yang said angrily. "We'll get shot if just come out and say it like that!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" the drug dealer interjected. "You guys want to set up shop in THIS part of town?"

Ruby and Yang both nodded in response.

"That's nuts. I like that". The Faunus then looked around to make sure that no one with a mask was listening in. "Okay, I'll let you in on a little secret. This neighborhood is owned by the White Fang, those goons you see walking around all over the place. They let me and my peeps sell our merchandise here, but they keep a tight fist on our supply. The White Fang take 80% of whatever we make, and they won't even give us an employee discount!"

"No way!" Ruby gasped. "You should form a union".

"Ha, not even I'm high enough to try that" the dealer giggled. "Anyways, we'd be more than willing to work with you if you cut us a better deal".

"You can have as much as you want, for free!" Ruby said merrily before Yang jabbed the young crime boss in the side with her elbow. "Uh, I mean, you can have a little if you want to. And how does 40% of the profit sound?"

The rabbit woman whistled at Ruby's offer. "Music to my ears" she said, shaking Ruby's hand. "You have yourself a deal! The name's Velvet, by the way".

"Ruby" the girl replied. "Welcome to The Saints".

"Uh, guys, I think you two might have missed something" Yang said, motioning to the area around her. "There are still White Fang everywhere!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that" Velvet said, eyes glazing over a little again. "Bummer".

"So? That's what we brought these babies for" Ruby said as she took out her handgun. "What's the best way to show that we're the new alpha bitches in this part of town?"

"Do you see that old gate?" Velvet said, pointing to the wall that used to help keep the city safe from Grimm. "Most of the city's cheap drugs, like Ursa Weed, are smuggled in through there. I'd say painting the gate red would be a pretty good way to send a message".

"I'm on it!" Ruby said before speeding off towards the gate.

"Hey, wait for me!" Yang called as she followed suit.

"Excuse me, sir!" Ruby shouted as she ran up to the nearest White Fang member she could find by the gate.

"Yeah, what do you want?" he asked back, clearly bored from an uneventful day. "Are you selling cookies or something?"

"Nope" Ruby said, taking out her gun and shooting the man twice in balls. "Looks like you could use some new ones though".

The Faunus man went down instantly and his friends noticed soon after. The White Fang took aim quickly, but Ruby was faster as she started taking them out one by one.

A few gang members tried to get the jump on Ruby by sneaking up from behind, but Yang stepped in front of them just before they took the shot.

"Hey, get out of the way!" one of them called. "You're going to get killed!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about me" Yang said, cracking her neck.

Before any of them could react, the blonde haired woman dashed forward and punched one of the four Faunus in the jaw, knocking him out instantly. She then grabbed the arm of one of the remaining three and pointed his gun towards his friends, forcing him to kill them both. She finished him off with a quick snap of his arm and punch to the face before turning around to see that even more White Fang had started surrounding her.

"And here I thought today was going to be boring" she said, launching herself back into the fight.

Ruby, meanwhile, was finishing off the last of the gang members still trying to hold the gate. The last one was in the gatehouse, and was desperately trying to call for help on a radio.

"Is anyone there? Come in!" he shouted desperately into his microphone.

"Hello, Purple Flower Shipping Company here" came the response. "We've got a fresh batch of 'produce' here ready for delivery to Vale. Is there something wrong?"

Ruby shot the Faunus manning the radio before he could respond and picked it up herself. "There's been a slight change of plans. The Saints now own this part of town, and anything that comes through this gate belongs to us!"

"Whatever" came the nonchalant response. "As long as we still get paid".

Back on the ground, the White Fang was still tangoing with Yang, and they were losing ground by the second.

"What is this woman?" one shouted to another as he emptied his gun's clip in Yang's direction. "I've shot her five times, but she won't go down!"

The other Faunus was about to reply, but was knocked out when Yang pitched a pistol right into the man's skull, killing him instantly.

"Shit" said the first White Fang member. "Retreat! Retreat!"

What was left of the White Fang in the neighborhood gathered up what drugs they could and grabbed whatever vehicle they could to escape. They could hear the cheers of the druggies and drug dealers alike as they sped away into the distance.

"Wow, that was impressive" Velvet said as she walked up to Yang. "You sent those pussies running with their tails in between their legs!"

"What can I say? I have that effect on boys" Yang said proudly.

"Tada!" Ruby shouted, pointing to the town gate behind her. The giant steel frame now had a fresh coat of spray paint on it, perfectly resembling Ruby's Rose. "Today's shipment is waiting just outside the gate, Velvet. Don't worry, I've already paid them".

"Wow, thanks bra!" Velvet said. "Here, take this as a token of our new friendship".

"What's this?" Ruby said as she examined the small plastic bag Velvet had given her.

"Ursa Weed. Very illegal, but even more fun!" Velvet explained. "You should have seen me before I discovered this stuff. I was a nervous wreck, totally lame. But now, I'm happy as can be!"

"Wow, thanks!" Ruby said. "See you later!"

"And don't forget our 40%" added Yang. "We wouldn't want those White Fang gang bangers coming back, now would we?"

"Heh, of course not" Velvet chuckled nervously. "If you ever want to get wrecked though, you know where to find me!"

* * *

Somewhere in Vale, a man wearing a grey scarf, a white trench coat, black pants, black gloves, and a black bowler hat counted money through his red hair as he smoked a cigar and sat behind a large, expensive desk. Standing nearby was very tall man in a White Fang uniform, but with a bigger and more intimidating mask.

After a few moments, the man counting the money took out his cigar and addressed the man standing in front of him.

"Lieutenant, is it just my imagination, or are we missing a few wads of cash today?" he asked accusingly. "I'd hate to think that someone was cheating me out of my fair share".

"You are not hallucinating, sir" the tattooed man replied. "The area around the southwest gate was taken over by a new gang today, so none of the dealers paid dues".

"Ha! No big deal then" he responded, leaning back in his green leather chair. "That district gets tossed around more than the cheapest whore in the house. We'll get it back soon enough. Tell me, Lieutenant, what's the name of this little weed that's popped up in our garden, eh?"

"They call themselves The Saints, sir" said the Lieutenant.

"The Saints? Ha! They won't last a week".

* * *

Cardin Winchester and his friends were all gathered in a high end sports bar as they watched the national soccer championships playout on a wide screen TV. He had short brown hair, and was currently wearing jeans, leather boots, and a white sports jersey with the number 32 printed on the back.

"Come on…come on…" he said to himself as a player approached a goal. "Yes! Gooooal!"

"Uh, excuse me sir" a man dressed in brown said as he tapped the leader of his gang on the shoulder.

"What, can't you see that I'm busy?" Cardin snapped back.

"Sorry, it's just that someone just shot up White Fang territory today and…"

"Ah, who cares about those Faunus freaks anyway? If someone wants to have some good clean fun shooting the bastards, then I say 'let them'" Cardin explained. "Now leave me alone! This beer isn't going to drink itself".

* * *

In one of the most expensive mansions in Vale, a woman sat behind her desk checking emails on her computer. She had long brunette hair that came down past her shoulder, and she was wearing an elegant orange dress with gold trimmings and a black choker. She was clearly hard at work, and only looked up from her computer when she heard a soft knock.

"Come in" she said.

A woman in a blue secretary's suit opened the door and walked in.

"Excuse me, Miss Cinder, but we have received some troubling reports about local gang activity" the secretary explained. "A new criminal organization titling themselves 'The Saints' have begun operating within Vale in the last 48 hours".

"And?" Cinder asked. There was always an 'and'.

"And in those 48 hours, its approximately two members have managed to kill over seventy five people, and have captured one of the most contested structures in town" the secretary finished.

"Keep an eye on them" Cinder ordered.

"Understood".

* * *

In still another part of Vale, the middle class neighborhoods of the residential district, a woman in a white dress watched the news of the attack on the White Fang on her television set with glee.

"This is my chance!" she thought to herself. "I can finally make it all back!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ideas, questions, concerns? Please let me know in a comment!


	3. Chapter 3

It was a few days after The Saints took the southwest agricultural district, and no one had seen hide or hair of Ruby and Yang, at least not publically. After making their bombastic entrance, the new gang of Vale seemed to of all but dropped off the face of Remnant. One woman was about to change all that.

The woman's white high heels clacked against the cracked pavement of Beacon Academy as she made her way towards the school. Her long, swan white hair was styled back into an efficient ponytail that matched her short white dress and diamond earrings perfectly. There were two obviously new additions to her wardrobe, however; a black belt that holstered her sub-machine guns, and a red jacket with a white rose emblazoned on the back.

Once inside the school, it didn't take the woman long to find Ruby and Yang; all she had to do was follow the pungent smoke.

"Hey Yang" Ruby said to her sister as they both slumped against a wall in their makeshift bedroom. "Shouldn't we, you know, be taking over the city?"

Yang took a long puff from her joint before responding with a weak "Tomorrow".

"Good afternoon, Miss Rose" the mysterious woman said when she got close enough to the two Saints.

"Afternoon?" Ruby said. "I thought it was Tuesday night".

"That was five days ago, Ruby" corrected Yang.

"Oh yeah" Ruby said, taking another puff. "Do I know you?"

"Uh…my name is Weiss Schnee" the woman said, trying to remain professional. "I heard about what you did to the White Fang a few days ago, and I decided that I would like to meet you in person".

"How…how did you find us?" Yang asked lazily.

"I just trailed one of your dealers here" Weiss explained. "You really should set up a discrete bank account, by the way. It helps stop things like that from happening".

"Whoop-de-fucking-do" Yang said sarcastically. "You found us. So what do you want?"

"I want to join The Saints" Weiss said sternly.

Ruby's eyes immediately lit up as soon as she heard what Weiss said. In an instant the young girl went from lazy and laidback to excited and hyperactive as she stood up and took the woman by the hand.

"Yes, yes, yes! Of course you can join!" Ruby said breathlessly. "Oh boy, my first homie! Oh, wait, that means I have to do this".

Ruby then punched Weiss square in the gut, and the punctuated it with a kick to the head, sending the elegantly dressed woman sprawling onto the floor with a bleeding lip.

"Sorry, Yang told me we have to beat in the new recruits" Ruby said as she helped Weiss back onto her feet. "But now you're in! Welcome to The Saints!"

Weiss was about to launch into a tirade about being treated like a street urchin, but Yang spoke before she could.

"Wait, you're a Schnee? Of the Schnee Dust Company?" Yang asked. "Aren't you guys loaded or something? Why would you want anything to do with us?"

"We were 'loaded'" Weiss said bitterly. "Until the White Fang took everything from us. They took our dust, then they took our money, and then they took my father. I know you're trying to take down the White Fang, and I want to help. I will not stop until I've taken everything from them the same way they took everything from me".

"Wow, that's cold" Yang said, impressed with the woman's dedication. "But we're not the only gang in the city, you know. Why didn't you go to CRDL, or The Embers?"

"CRDL are a bunch of sexist jackasses who barely know which end of the gun is which, and The Embers…" Weiss trailed off when she mentioned Vale's fourth gang. "Well, they just didn't work out. So do you want me, or not?"

"Sure; welcome to the team!" Yang said, standing up and slapping the gang's newest member on the back.

"So…where's everyone else?" Weiss asked tepidly.

"You're looking at'em" Yang said as she pulled another joint out of her pocket.

"What?" said Weiss.

"It's just the three of us!" said Ruby. "I mean, unless you count the drug dealers, but I don't since they refused to wear the red bandanas I gave them, which was really rude of them. I mean, come on guys, I spent a whole twenty Lien on these things and…"

"What?" Weiss repeated, this time with anger audibly rising in her voice.

"Uh…I said it's just the three of us right now, and.."

"What!?" Weiss shouted.

"Uh, do you have a hearing problem?" Ruby asked. "Oh, wait, I probably should have asked that louder. DO YOU HAVE A…"

"No, no, this will not do! This will not do at all!" Weiss said, storming out of the room. "I will be right back".

"What's her problem?" Ruby asked after Weiss left.

"Hell if I know" Yang said as she sat back down to smoke her Ursa Weed.

* * *

Weiss hopped back into her white sports car and drove as quickly as she could over to the closest section of the residential district of Vale. Most of the residential district was controlled by CRDL, but the eastern section was ruled over by the White Fang. They mostly ruled over the Faunus populated areas of the city, but this neighborhood was one of the few exceptions. Weiss could tell just by the angry looks on the humans' faces as they passed by the White Fang enforcers that this place was going to perfect for what she had planned.

Weiss finally found a good place to stop and parked her car. She then started to walk around the neighborhood, looking for her chance. All she needed was one opportunity, and the rest would take care of itself.

"Help! Someone help me!" Weiss heard a woman call from a nearby alleyway.

"Too easy" Weiss said to herself before dashing into the alley.

As she suspected, two White Fang members making an unauthorized withdrawal from some poor woman's purse. A few well-placed shots were all it took to take them both down.

"Oh, thank goodness you came when you did" the woman in a yellow dress said as she gathered her things that were scattered on the ground. "I just wish there were more people in this town who'd stand up to these animal freaks".

"You know what they say; wish into one hand, shoot with the other" Weiss said, tossing the woman her sub-machine gun. "See which kills them first".

"Wha?" the woman said, terrified. "But I can't just go out and kill them! I've never even held a gun before!"

"Don't worry, I was nervous the first time I killed a man too" Weiss confessed. "But don't think about what will happen when you pull the trigger. Think about what will happen if you don't".

The woman stood in silence for a few moments before nodding.

"Good" Weiss said, picking up one of the dead Faunas' guns. "Stick with me, and you're going to go far. Let's do this!"

Weiss took aim at the nearest White Fang member she saw when she exited the alleyway, pumping her chest full of lead and dropping the Faunas woman where she stood. The woman Weiss gave her gun to followed out soon afterwards, firing her gun nervously.

"Keep your breathing steady and your mood calm" Weiss explained to her new follower in between shots. "You might get wrinkles otherwise".

"I don't know if I can do this" the woman responded, on the verge of tears.

Suddenly, a large group of White Fang members in jeeps rounded a street corner, their sights dead set on Weiss and her unfortunate new friend.

"Shit" Weiss said, hopping into her car. "Get in".

Weiss hit the gas as soon as the woman was inside, speeding into traffic as the White Fang gave suit.

"Hey, I haven't even put my seatbelt on yet!" the woman complained, but was silenced by the sound of bullets peppering the back of the car.

"Uh, I think we might have bigger problems than that" Weiss said sarcastically. "Don't just sit there, you dolt! Shoot back!"

The woman haphazardly leaned out the passenger window and fired on one of the pursuing jeeps, hitting the driver in the head and sending the car spinning out into a tree and creating a small explosion. Her first kill.

"Wow…that was…so cool!" she shouted, laughing maniacally.

She began firing in full force now, not caring about who might be on the receiving end of her bullets. The White Fang still pursuing them tried their best to fire back, but Weiss's superb driving skill ensured that they could never get a clear shot.

Suddenly the woman's rampage came to an end when she heard an unsatisfying clicking noise come from her gun.

"Aw, I'm out of ammo" she told Weiss.

"Not a problem" Weiss responded, giving her one of the guns she kept hidden in her glove compartment. "Help yourself. In fact, guns for everyone!"

Weiss then hit a button on her dashboard that popped open the trunk of her car, revealing a treasure trove of guns of all shapes and sizes. They began spilling out onto the streets, confusing the White Fang members who were still chasing them. The Faunus ignored the weapons and drove on, but it did not take the residents of the neighborhood long to take notice of them.

"Fuck" Weiss said as she fought against the wheel of her car. "They must have shot out the tires! We'll have to make a stand!"

Weiss parked in front of a small apartment complex and jumped out of her car, taking cover behind it. Her accomplice soon followed, though she wasn't trying nearly as hard to remain hidden.

"Come get it, you motherfuckers!" she shouted, still riding her adrenaline high. "Come and fucking get it!"

The White Fang were smart enough not to charge right in, however, and instead lined up their cars in a semicircle around the two cornered women.

"Give it up!" one of the higher ranking members called out. "You're surrounded".

Weiss just looked up at him and smiled. "My, aren't you the pot calling the kettle black?"

The Faunas man turned around to see what she was talking about and saw that at least half of the neighborhood had surrounded them, Weiss's guns in hand.

"I'm only going to tell you this once" said a woman in a red shirt holding an assault rifle. "Get out".

The White Fang immediately dropped their guns and hopped back in their cars, retreating back towards the south side of Vale.

"We'll remember this!" one called right before they disappeared around a street corner.

"Of course you will" Weiss said dismissively. "I'm very hard to forget".

The crowd burst into cheers soon afterwards, jubilant that they were finally able to get rid of the White Fang after years of brutal occupation. Suddenly, a man burst from the crowd and approached Weiss's car.

"Helena, what in the world are you doing?" the man said to his wife. "You go out grocery shopping, and this happens?"

"Shut the fuck up!" she said, grabbing him and bringing him in for a kiss. "I'm so fucking horny right now! We are going to go break that new bed in, now!"

"Uh, yes ma'am" he said, following timidly behind her.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Weiss shouted, addressing the crowd. "This neighborhood now belongs to The Saints! Anyone else who wants to help us kick some more White Fang tail, meet me at Beacon at sundown!"

* * *

A few hours later, and over two hundred men and women from the eastern residential district, as well as the rest of Vale, were gathered in Beacon's old cafeteria.

"Now you're a gang" Weiss told Ruby triumphantly, but the girl was barely listening. She was too busy squirming in excitement over all her new 'homies'.

"Weiss, thank you so much!" Ruby said, clapping her hands together. "Time to start beating them in! You there!" she said, running up to a random man and punching him in the jaw. "You're first!"

The rest of the people in the room took Ruby's lead and started laying it on the poor man for all that he was worth. Then, once Ruby decided that he was sufficiently beaten, she ran up to her next 'lucky' recruit and punched them as well.

"I've got to admit Weiss, you did a pretty good job out there today" Yang said, walking up beside the woman in white. "Much better than you'd think an heiress could do".

"You're not the only Huntress who lost her chance to go to this school" Weiss said.

* * *

The man in the white trench coat sat behind his desk counting his money again, an activity that used to bring him endless amounts of joy. But today, he couldn't help but look at the hundreds of thousands of Lien in front of him and scowl.

"What happened this time, Lieutenant?" he asked the large muscled man in front of him.

"The Saints took over one of the eastern neighborhoods yesterday, so no one paid their protection money" he calmly explained.

"Great" the crime boss said scornfully. "Just fucking great!"

He stared at his money for a minute or two before coming to a decision.

"Get Neo on the phone" he said. "Tell her I have a gardening job for her to do".


	4. Chapter 4

A few days after gaining their new members and The Saint's hideout of Beacon had expanded from being a damp, dirty, depressing pile of rocks to a damp, dirty, and depressing pile of rocks with a few plastic tables and some mattresses. Weiss had hoped that having crew members would help tidy up the place, but if anything their presence turned it into a total pigsty, with beer cans and other trash everywhere.

The final straw came when Weiss asked Yang where she could go to use the restroom and was kindly directed to a field nearby.

"Boss, we need to talk" Weiss said as she approached Ruby, Yang not far behind her.

"What's up?" she said, looking up from her history book

"Princess here thinks she's too good to use our bathroom" Yang joked, but Weiss paid her no attention.

"This place is filthy!" Weiss said. "We need to hire some janitors, or at the very least someone who can fix the plumbing!"

"Yeah, I would totally do that, but I kiiiinda lost most of our money playing Atlas Holdem with my new homies" Rudy said, embarrassed.

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed. "How could you just let that happen?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that we were actually playing for keeps?" Ruby complained. "No one told me!"

Weiss slapped herself in the face and took a deep breath to regain her composure.

"That's fine" Weiss said bitterly. "We can make it back. I was planning on expanding our operations soon anyway".

"Really?" Yang asked, cocking her eyebrow. "And how do we do that?"

"You two have done a good job by stepping into the drug market, but if you really want to start making Lien, then you are going to need some serious pussy" Weiss explained.

"But I already have a pussy" Ruby replied. "And I like to think it's a pretty serious one".

"No, you dumbass!" Weiss shouted. "The sex trade! You know, prostitution, pornography, strip clubs!"

"Oooh" Ruby said, a wave of understanding washing over her face. "That makes more sense".

"The biggest White Fang strip club is in the eastern commercial district, called 'The Cat House'", Weiss explained, taking out a map of Vale and pointing to the club. "The amount of Lien that passes through this building on a daily basis is astronomical. It'll more than pay for a few renovations to Beacon".

"Alright then" Yang said, taking out and loading a sub-machine gun. "Let's go get some pussy-cats".

"Wait!" Ruby said. "Maybe we should, uh, scout the place out before we shoot it up".

Yang was shocked at first that her sister was acting as the voice of self-restraint for once. That was, until Yang saw Ruby's rosy red cheeks.

"Oh, I get it" Yang said knowingly. "You want taste of the kitties before we put the club out of commission for a few weeks for repairs".

"N-no" Ruby said, her blush intensifying. "I just think that we should be careful, and-"

"Hey, I'm not judging" Yang said, putting up her hands and shrugging. "Just bring her back in one piece, Weiss".

"You're not coming with us?" Weiss asked.

"Hey, I'm willing to do a lot of things, especially for cash" Yang explained as she walked towards the door. "But watching my sister get a lap-dance is not one of them".

* * *

An hour later and Weiss and Ruby had both arrived at the infamous 'gentlemen's' club, outfits slightly altered as to not be immediately recognized by the White Fang's guards. The place was not hard to find, as its sign, a giant white neon-glowing cat paw, could be seen for miles in every direction.

The approached the bouncer out front, who looked them both up and down before speaking.

"I'm sorry, but you might as well go home" he said, after some careful consideration. "We don't take ironing boards here".

Ruby almost reached for her hidden gun, but Weiss managed to discretely stop her before Ruby blew their cover.

"I'm sorry, but you misunderstand; we're not here for auditions. We're customers" Weiss explained.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" asked the Faunus man. "Twenty Lien each to get in".

The two women both paid the entry fee, and were about to go in when Ruby suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Hey wait, don't you want to see our fake IDs? Or check us for weapons?" she asked.

"Ruby!" Weiss muttered angrily under her breath.

"Yeah, no one cares" the bouncer explained. "Go on in".

It took a moment for the women's eyes to adjust once they were inside. The strip club was clearly used to Faunus clientele, who could see in the dark, so the lighting was very low.

In the center of the main room was a large stage with three stripper poles and five mostly naked Faunus dancers currently performing an act. An enormous crowd of men was gathered in front of them, most of them clearly well-armed White Fang members, who were hollering and tossing Lien onto the stage.

There were other, smaller stages with poles scattered throughout the club as well, with some having dancers performing on them. Scantily clad waitresses were busy delivering an impressive selection of alcohol to The Cat House's patrons, who never seemed to get enough. Almost all of the women in the club were cat Faunus, with a few exceptions.

A drunken Faunus man spotted the two new women not long after they entered the strip club and whistled.

"Wow, that's a lot of clothes you got there" he said, slurring his words. "Do you need some help taking them off?"

"Maybe we should get a private booth" Ruby said, ignoring the drunken man.

"Yeah, I think so too" Weiss responded, heading towards the VIP section in the back of the club.

"Me and my friend would like a room with a dancer to entertain us, please" Weiss said, flashing the guard her last five thousand Lien cards.

"I think that can be arranged" he replied, pocketing two of the five cards for himself. "Right this way".

Ruby and Weiss were led down a narrow hallway and past several doors where they could hear a large manner of unsavory noises coming various rooms as they went along. Ruby thought she even heard a horse in one, but she knew that could not have been right.

Eventually the bouncer led them into their spot, which was just a small room with two small leather armchairs in it.

"Your 'entertainer' will be here in a minute" he explained. "And remember; if you break her, you buy her".

Weiss waited until she was sure the man was gone before speaking.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you Ruby, this might have worked out for the better" Weiss said, relaxing now that they were alone. "Did you see how many White Fang there were out there? There is no way we could have been able to take this place just on our own".

"Oh, uh, yeah" Ruby said nervously in response. "Look, Weiss, I'm kinda worried about this whole 'lap-dance' thing. I mean, what if I fart in the middle of it? What if I say something stupid? What if she doesn't like me?"

"Ruby, they're strippers" Weiss said dryly. "Of course she won't like you".

Ruby whimpered quietly to herself as her anxieties started to set in on her. After two minutes she finally said something coherent.

"Weiss, could you get a lap-dance before me?" Ruby asked bashfully.

"What?! No!" Weiss said. "Why would you even want me to do that?"

"So I won't feel so scared when I get one" Ruby said pleadingly. "Please, I'll owe you a massive favor!"

"What happened to your pussy being serious?" Weiss hissed at her boss.

"I lied. It's not serious at all, it's a complete joke" Ruby whined. "Please Weiss, just do this for me once!"

"But I'm not even into-" Weiss began, but was interrupted when the door to their room opened.

A woman with long black hair, golden eyes, and wearing a tight black bikini entered the room. The small cat ears on the top of her head indicated that she was one of the many cat Faunus who worked for the club. She was currently busy looking at her phone, and did not even look up when she finally addressed Ruby and Weiss.

"Okay, which one of you wants to fuck?" she said dolefully.

"I like your boobs" Ruby blurted out. "I mean, White here just wants a lap-dance. If you wouldn't mind, that is…"

"Whatever" the woman said, making her way over to Weiss and straddling her. She then turned around and started rubbing her ass weakly over Weiss lap, eyes still glued to her phone as she scrolled through blog posts.

"Wow, this is even less sexy than I thought it would be" Weiss said, incredibly uncomfortable with the current situation.

"Most guys I do actually think this is kinky" she said, not bothering to increase her efforts at all.

"Uh…I don't know" Ruby said, still staring at the Faunus girl's D breasts. "I think we should still keep her after we take over the club".

"Wait, what?" the stripper said, finally looking the two in the eye. "You're planning on taking over the club? Hold on…you're The Saints, aren't you?"

"I swear, Ruby, I'm going to find some duct tape and-" Weiss began to say before being interrupted.

"I want to help" the stripper said, putting down her phone.

"What? Why?" Weiss asked.

"I joined the White Fang back when they actually stood for something. Back when we were fighting for equality instead of groveling for money" she said sullenly. "But that White Fang is long gone. Our leader isn't even a Faunus anymore, that's how far we've fallen. I would do anything to see them destroyed".

"Well, nice sob story, but we can't just let every random stripper into The Saints" Weiss explained.

"Yes we can" Ruby interjected.

"No, we can't" Weiss argued. "So, unless you have something to offer us-"

"There's a safe in the office with eight hundred thousand Lien in it" the black haired woman stated matter-of-factly. "If you take it and kill the manager, then they'll be forced to sell. I also know all the girls here, and they would be more than willing to join up with you as long as none of them get hurt. You can have this club up and running again in a week, and with at least a two hundred thousand Lien profit".

"Deal!" Ruby said excitedly.

"No deal!" shouted Weiss. "In case you've forgotten, there are still a thousand White Fang Members out there, and only three of us! How can you possibly expect us to make it to the office on one piece?"

"Don't worry, numbers won't be a problem" the woman said. Or at least, one of her said this, as she had suddenly split into three different copies of herself.

"Shadow clones?" Weiss asked, shocked. "You have a semblance?"

"Yes, and my name is Blake Belladonna" the real woman explained as she walked towards the door. "Are you in or out?"

"Yes! Let's do this!" Ruby said, reaching under her skirt for her hidden handgun.

The first White Fang member they saw was the bouncer who was guarding the VIP section of the club, who saw the three women as they exited their room.

"Hey, what's going on here?" he asked, but all he received was Blake punching him in the head as an answer. The ex-stripper then took his gun, entered the main area of the club and fired several shots straight up into the air. This sent all the girls in the club a quick, simple message; get down now. Every single one of them, no matter what they were doing, hit the floor and hid under or behind whatever furniture they could find.

It took the drunken patrons of the Cat House longer to figure out what was going on, however, and Blake used that opportunity to take out as many guards as she could before they came to their senses. Some managed to get a few shots off on Blake, but they were only able to hit her shadow clone decoys.

Ruby, meanwhile, was tearing through anyone standing between her and the manager's office.

"Whoo!" Ruby shouted as she shot two men who may or may not have actually been the White Fang. "I never thought murder could be so relaxing! We should go to strip clubs more often!"

"Hey, wait for me!" Weiss said as she struggled to keep up with her boss's killing spree.

The non-White Fang customers fled the building once they realized what was going on, and more than a few White Fang joined them. They weren't running, away, however. They were getting help.

Blake arrived in the manager's office with Ruby standing over the manager's dead corpse and Weiss standing beside the safe, which had an advanced computer locking system.

"Okay, so what's the code?" Weiss asked as she saw Blake enter the room.

"I never said I knew the code" Blake calmly explained as she took the manager's laptop from his desk.

"What?!" Weiss screamed.

"I'm sorry, Blake, Weiss has a bit of a hearing issue, so you may want to-" Ruby said before Weiss interrupted her.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Weiss asked angrily.

"I also never said that not knowing the code would be a problem" Blake replied as she connected her new laptop to the safe and sitting down on the floor. "Just keep them busy for a few minutes".

"Can do!" Ruby said happily, firing upon the first White Fang member she saw through the doorway.

Weiss opened fire too, but she was only partly paying attention to the fight.

"So if you're an ex-Huntress and a computer genius, then what are you doing in a strip club?" Weiss asked.

"Simple; this is where I make the most money" Blake said, focusing on her computer. "That's all we are to Roman Torchwick; numbers, objects to be used and traded. That was where he made his fatal mistake".

It only took another minute before the safe popped open and Blake started gathering up all the money inside.

"There's a car out back we can use to escape" said Blake. "Are either of you a good driver?"

Weiss nodded and followed Blake out of the room.

"I call shotgun!" shouted Ruby.

* * *

The three of them managed to escape just before the White Fang had completely surrounded the Cat House. They quickly drove back to their hideout at Beacon Academy, stopping only briefly at Blake's apartment so she could gather her things and change into a new outfit.

In place of Blake's contact lenses, she was now wearing a pair of bookish rectangular glasses, and instead of her bikini she was now wearing a white dress shirt, black silk vest with red trimmings, white shorts, black tights, and black high heels. A large black bow also now rested on the top of her head, hiding her Faunus cat ears from sight.

"What's with the bow?" Ruby asked as they continued to drive back towards their hideout.

"I know there aren't many Faunus in your gang, and I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention" Blake explained. "I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am".

"Aw, don't worry Blake!" Ruby said earnestly. "As far as I'm concerned, you're already one of us".

Ruby then punctuated this by grabbing the Faunus woman by the shoulders and head-butting her as hard as she could.

"Welcome to The Saints!"


	5. Chapter 5

A week later, and Blake had lived up to her promise of getting the Cat House back up and running. All they had to do was purchase the building under a false name using most of the money they stole, and then hire a cleanup crew to make it look like nothing had happened. Of course, Weiss made sure that whatever money was left over went into repairing Beacon.

Later that day was the grand reopening of the strip club, and Weiss, Yang, and Blake were all there to make sure things went smoothly.

"Put the spare poles in the back" Weiss directed a group of delivery men outside the Cat House. "Be careful with those beer bottles. And someone, please, get rid of that goddamn horse! No, I don't care what you do with it, just get it out of here!"

Blake and Yang were sitting in the bed of a truck nearby, with Blake typing on her computer and Yang listening to the radio on a small boom box.

"So, I talked with the girls, and about two thirds of them agreed to stay" Blake told Yang.

"And the rest?" Yang asked.

"They want to join The Saints too" Blake said.

"Nice!" Yang said, pumping her fist triumphantly. "I gotta say, you really outdid yourself new girl. I can see why Ruby trusted you".

"Thanks, but I wouldn't put too much faith in Ruby's intelligence" Blake said as she organized the Cat House's budget. "She doesn't seem to be the brightest bulb in the box".

"Yeah, but she has her moments" Yang said. "I don't think I would have lasted nearly as long on the streets without her. Hell, I probably would have ended up like you".

Blake suddenly stopped typing and looked away from Yang, head hung slightly.

"N-not that there's anything wrong with that!" Yang sputtered awkwardly. "Just because you were a stripper doesn't mean you were a whore!"

Blake still didn't say anything.

"Oh, you mean you-" Yang gasped. "T-that's fine too! I mean, you have to do what you can to pay the bills, after all. And at least you didn't do any of the really weird stuff!"

Blake remained silent.

"Yeah, I'm going to shut up now" Yang said meekly.

"It's fine" Blake finally spoke. "I'm not going to miss that life".

"So does that mean you're with us for good?" Yang asked. "I mean, as much as I'd love to, we can't keep killing White Fang forever. Sooner or later, they're gonna run out of guys".

"I don't know" Blake admitted. "This is the first time I haven't been struggling just to make it through the day. I guess I haven't really planned that far ahead".

"Well, maybe that's for the best" Yang said.

Blake just looked back at the other woman, confused.

"Let me let you in on a little secret, Blake; plans have the bad habit of biting you right in the ass" the blonde woman explained over the rock song playing on her boom box. "Me and Ruby planned on going to Beacon, but they shut it down right before I could join. Then we planned on just living normal lives, but then the Crackdown happened and the government seized everything we owned because our dad was in the protest. Then we planned on moving out of Vale and, well, you can see how great that went".

"Wow, you two have been through a lot" Blake said sympathetically. "I actually considered signing up for Beacon that year too. Imagine, we could have been teammates if things turned out differently".

"Yeah, well, that's how the cookie crumbles" Yang, shrugging her shoulders. "Bottom line; sometimes it's best to just go with the flow. Not everything's going to turn out perfect, no matter how hard you plan".

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that" Weiss said, walking over to Yang's truck with a clipboard in hand. "Because I've planned this down to the finest detail, and I assure you, the Cat House is going to be even bigger than before!"

"And the girls will actually be able to keep their tips" Blake said, glaring. "Right?"

"Yeah, yeah" Weiss said, waving her hand dismissively. "We'll make it up in alcohol sales. All you have to do is increase the price and put a 'luxury' sticker on the side of the bottle, and presto! Instant revenue boost!"

"Wow, that's pretty smart Weiss" Yang complemented.

"Thanks. My father did the same thing with green and 'emerald' Dust types" Weiss explained.

"Ha, I knew it!" Yang exclaimed. "I told Ruby there wasn't a difference! She owes me one hundred Lien!"

"Wait, your father?" Blake asked. "You're a Schnee?"

"Yeah, why?" Weiss asked, suspicious.

"No reason" Blake said as calmly as she could.

Weiss glared at the black haired girl before speaking again. "Anyways, I'm heading back to base to get a few things, and to make sure Ruby hasn't blown herself up with those grenades we bought yesterday. Do you think you can handle things here, Yang?"

"Sure! You can count on me, Princess!" Yang said, giving a mock salute.

"Just make sure the place doesn't burn down by the time I get back" Weiss added. And with that, she got back in her new sports car and started driving back to Beacon Academy.

"Look, Blake, I'm sorry about how Weiss has been acting around you" Yang said once Weiss was gone. "She won't say it out loud, but I think she has a hard time…trusting Faunus".

"That's fine too" Blake said, returning to her computer. "We're pretty used to that kind of response".

"No, it is not fine" Yang said determinedly. "You're a Saint now. Family. And if anyone makes you feel like shit, even her, don't hesitate to let me know".

"Thanks Yang…that means a lot to me" Blake said, cracking her first smile in a long time.

"And welcome back to 88.6 KURE, Vale Alternative" a cheery female voice said over the radio. "This is your lovely host, Nora Valkyrie, speaking. As always, I accompanied by my jolly and fun loving cohost, Lie Ren! Say 'hi'!"

"Hey" Ren said tiredly.

"Thank you, Ren! Anyways, a really big man stopped by the studio a few minutes ago with a fistful of money, a chainsaw, and a notecard" Nora continued. "He said that I could take the money and read the note on the air, or I could 'learn what my own brain tasted like'. And, as much as I love brain food, I chose to go with the first option".

The voice on the radio then cleared its throat a few times before continuing. "'A message for The Saints'. 'I sure hope you girls have been having fun! Running around, shooting my men, and taking all my cash. Well, I'd hate to break it to you, but this little carnival ride isn't free, and I am going to make you pay for every fucking cent you owe me. Hugs and kisses, Roman Torchwick'".

"Ah, gang wars" Nora sighed. "Watcha gonna do?"

"Uh, Nora" Ren spoke up.

"Yeah?" Nora asked.

"I don't think we can say 'fuck' on the radio" he pointed out.

"Ha! Well you just did it too, so now you're my accomplice!" Nora stated gleefully. Ren just groaned in response.

"I always wanted a partner in crime!" Nora said, clapping her hands together happily. "Maybe we should start a gang of our own! We can be 'The Fuck Buddies', except we don't actually fuck each other! Oh, or how about 'The Rug Makers'?"

"Oh, not this again" said Ren.

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the ground, knocking over the boom box onto the cement and breaking it. Smoke started rising from the Cat House, and Blake and Yang could both hear screams coming from inside the strip club.

"That can't be good" Yang said.

The two women grabbed their sub-machine guns and sprinted towards the front door, strippers and workmen running past them as they went. White Fang goons armed with assault rifles and shotguns had burst in through the back door of the building, and were now shooting anyone they saw. At least eight dead men and women were already on the ground, with body count rapidly rising.

But one girl seemed to be miraculously untouched. If anything, she seemed to be perfectly at ease with all the death and destruction going on around her, choosing to sit upon a barstool with her legs crossed and her pretty pink parasol lounging over her shoulder. She was wearing white, high heeled boots, brown pants, a black corset, a few beaded necklaces, and a white jacket with a pink interior. The right half of her long hair was pink, along with her left eye, and the other half was brown along with her right eye. She was very short, only about four foot ten, and was only fifteen years old at most.

"Go out back and cut them off!" Blake shouted over the gunfire. "I'll try to get as many girls out as I can!"

"On it!" Yang affirmed as she went back out the front door.

Blake started taking out as many White Fang as she could, taking careful aim and making liberal use of her shadow clones to dodge shots. But even as the Faunus men and women fell around her, the little human girl continued to sit on her stool with a smile on her face. It wasn't until the last of her comrades fell that she finally got up from her seat and started walking casually over towards Blake.

Blake, not wanting to take chances, immediately opened fire, but her shots were blocked by the girl's unusually resistant parasol top. Blake used this as an opportunity to try and rush the girl, but she just knocked the woman back with a force much stronger than a girl her size should have been capable of.

The strange girl then seized upon Blake's loss of balance and delivered several strong kicks to the older woman's torso, sending her straight into a wall.

Yang, despite being vastly outnumbered, was having slightly better luck in the back of the strip club. There were about thirty of them still unloading themselves out of their jeeps and motorcycles. They spotted the blonde haired woman almost instantly, and started opening fire.

Yang ducked behind one of their jeeps to avoid the incoming fire, and then punched the back of the vehicle as hard as she could. The force of the punch sent the jeep careening forward, running over four Faunus and scattering the rest. Yang then used the confusion as her chance to unload the clip of her gun into the surviving White Fang, taking out eight more.

Out of bullets, Yang ran forward and punched the nearest White Fang member in the face, knocking him out instantly. The others started to open fire, but Yang was moving so fast that only a few of them could get a clear shot.

It was about when half of the attack force was dead or dying on the ground that some of the Faunus started running away, choosing to keep their lives rather than to risk it trying to take down Yang. But several of them were refusing to back down from the challenge.

A Faunus man ran forward and delivered a swift punch to Yang's gut, staggering her slightly. But this only angered Yang, activating her semblance and causing her hair to catch on fire.

"Oh no you don't!" Yang said as she picked the man up by the leg and start beating him into his own comrades. Most of the remaining White Fang started running at this point, but one particularly determined gangster kept firing his shotgun towards her.

"Why won't you stay down, you stupid whore!" he shouted.

"I am not a whore!" she said, delivering a punch that collapsed the man's entire ribcage. After a few moments he dropped to the ground, deader than the dirt his corpse fell on.

"N-not that there's anything wrong with being a whore" Yang said nervously to no one. "Hehe, yeah…"

Back inside, the mysterious girl went in for the kill as she unsheathed the blade hidden inside her parasol. She thrust it forward into Blake's stomach, but found that only dust remained a few seconds later: a decoy.

Blake picked up the nearest gun off a dead White Fang member she could find and opened fire, forcing the girl to leave behind her knife embedded in the wall. The girl was going to keep fighting until she saw Yang come in through the backdoor with her Daisy Dukes stained with her men's blood. Not wanting to get cornered, she decided to shift strategies.

"Blake, are you okay?" Yang shouted before spotting the strange girl sitting on the side of the bar. "Don't worry, I've got this".

Yang ran forward to punch the pink intruder, but found that all her punch hit was an inexplicable pane of glass. All that was left on the bar counter when it disappeared was grenade, its pin recently plucked.

"Shit!" Yang cursed. "Blake, we need to get out of here!"

The two women ran outside as fast as they could, the grenade going off right behind them and lighting the building's entire alcohol reserve on fire. The building was in flames a few seconds later, with news reporters and firemen arriving on the scene a few minutes afterwards. Blake and Yang couldn't do anything but watch as everything that they had worked for over the past week went up in smoke.

Yang's cell phone suddenly started ringing.

"Hello?" she said, answering it.

"You had one job, Yang!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Neopolitan" Ruby said curiously, reading the name on the handle of the knife that Yang and Blake brought back from the flaming ruins of the Cat House. "What, like the ice cream?"

Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake had all gathered in Ruby's room after the attack to discuss exactly what had happened, and to figure out what to do next. Yang was visibly trying to avoid eye-contact with Weiss as they sat at Ruby's small plastic table, and both Blake and Weiss looked very worried.

"You know this means, right?" Weiss asked.

"Yes" answered Ruby. "The White Fang have teamed up with the Vale dairy farmers! Those fiends!"

"No!" said Weiss. "It means now we're dealing with a Huntress! Or, at the very least, someone who can use their aura and a semblance".

"Oh" Ruby said, obviously disappointed that she was wrong. "So what do we do about her?"

"Just give her five minutes alone in a room with me" Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "I'll take care of her".

"Something tells me that that's not going to happen" interjected Blake. "She seems too smart to let herself get boxed in like that. She also could be hiding anywhere in the city, so we can't waste our time looking for her. All we can really do is recuperate our losses and wait for an opportunity to present itself".

"Ah, this sucks!" Ruby groaned, kicking her legs. "Can we at least try to reopen the Cat House? Maybe partially melted stripper poles are just what the girls needed to liven up their routines!"

"I'm sorry Ruby, but there's no way there's no way we can get that place up and running again, at least not with the money we have right now" Blake explained. "I was able to save most of the girls though, so this wasn't a total loss".

"Yeah, about that…" Weiss said, trailing off. "We're going to have to let most of them go".

"What?!" Blake said angrily, breaking her usually calm demeanor. "But they don't have anywhere to go! You saw what happened at the strip club. Roman is going to hunt down anyone who sided with us over the White Fang and make an example of them. Sending them home is not an option".

"Hey, you said it yourself; we're broke" Weiss said, pointing an accusatory finger towards Blake. "We can't afford to have so many extra mouths to feed, especially if they're not going to fight. We have to send them away".

"They're going to die if you do that!" Blake shouted.

"We're going to die if we don't!" Weiss yelled back. "It's called 'cutting your losses', Belladonna. Every smart business woman knows about that principle. But I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that…"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Blake said, standing up from her seat and slamming her hands on the table.

"Whoa you two, settle down" Yang said, getting up and trying to form a barrier between the two angry women, but they seemed determined to go at each other no matter what.

"We'll use pussy power!" Ruby cried suddenly, leaving the other three women in a stunned silence.

"Uh, what?" Yang finally said after several awkward moments.

"If we can't afford to keep protecting them, then we'll just put them to work! That way, they stay safe and we can start making our money back. Both problems solved!" Ruby happily explained.

"But the strip club's been destroyed" Blake said, confused. "Where are they going to dance?"

"Who said anything about dancing?"

* * *

"Wow, eighteen years old and already a pimp" Velvet said casually as she lead Ruby and Blake through the starlit streets of Vale. "You are quite the playa".

"W-what? Yeah, totally" Ruby said as she weakly feigned bravado. "The ladies can't get enough of me. So, uh, where are you taking us exactly?"

"If you want to pimp, then there's only one place you can go" she explained. "The agricultural district docks!"

The smell of sea salt and fish wafted through the air with a thick layer of mist between the various boats and warehouses of the docks. Scantily clad women and White Fang members could be seen on every other section of the street, standing under streetlights and in front of warehouse doors.

"Specialties: fish tacos and glazed doughnut holes" Velvet said.

"Oh, that's good, I am pretty hungry" Ruby said, completely missing what Velvet was implying. "I'd love to put my mouth around some good doughnut holes right about now".

Velvet whistled in response. "Girl, you are into some nasty shit! Anyways, if you can take out the pimps here, your hos can start hitting up as many lonely seamen as they can handle. Plus, all the ones that are already here will have to start paying you for protection".

"Alright, let's do this!" Ruby said, about to rush into battle when Velvet grabbed her shoulder.

"Whoa, slow down there cowgirl" she said. "The White Fang aren't going give up this prime real-estate that easy. You start shooting, and they'll be more angry men here than the time than the time they raised the price of BJs. I don't think even you'd be able to handle that".

"Oh yeah, that's right" Ruby said in realization. "Blake, do the thing".

Blake nodded and dialed a number into her mobile phone and put it on speaker.

"Weiss, Yang" Blake said into her cell phone. "Is the distraction ready?"

"Almost" came the response from Weiss. "The bomb should go off in about thirty-"

Weiss was cut off by a large explosion in the background, followed shortly by loud bursts of gunfire.

"Ugh, cheap Mistralian fuses!" Weiss said over the chaos going on around her. "I'll call you back".

"There!" Ruby said excitedly. "We shouldn't be interrupted now!"

"Okay then" Velvet said, relenting. "Go knock'em dead!"

Ruby did just that by activating her semblance, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her as she dashed up to a man wearing a White Fang mask and punched him so fast that his head left a dent in the brick wall he was standing in front of. In a second Ruby was already attacking another on the other side of the street, leaving behind a dazed and confused prostitute to wonder what in the world happened to her John.

Blake followed Ruby's lead by revealing a silenced handgun and taking out whatever gangsters Ruby happened to miss. The fog tonight was thick enough that none of the White Fang could figure exactly what was going on until it was too late, preventing them from raising the alarm. The prostitutes, meanwhile, decided that staying quiet was probably the best way to avoid being killed by this madwoman as well.

* * *

Once the docks were clear of White Fang members, Ruby ordered her crew to come in with the ex-strippers and secure it. Ruby and Blake watched from the side of the road as Ruby's Saints explained to the prostitutes who was in charge of the docks now, and how big of a cut they were going to be taking.

"Look, Blake…" Ruby said shyly. "I'm sorry if this isn't how you wanted your friends to end up".

"It's okay, Ruby" Blake said. "Most of them were just happy that we aren't giving up on them entirely. It was a tough call, but I think you made the best of a really bad situation. Maybe The Saints have a chance of winning this war after all".

"Aww, thank you!" Ruby said sweetly. "Gang hug!"

Blake blushed brightly as Ruby latched onto the older woman and started squeezing with all her might.

"Uh, Ruby, I don't think gang hugs exist" Blake said, embarrassed.

"They do now" Ruby replied. People were starting to stare.

"Ahem" Blake coughed, pushing Ruby away. "Maybe we shouldn't start celebrating just yet. Roman isn't going to take this loss lightly, after all. He'll probably send Neo in to attack very soon".

"Oh don't worry, I'm counting on it!" Ruby said, eliciting a very confused look from Blake. "But, until then, it's time to get down to business!"

Ruby then took out a large red pimp hat from seemingly nowhere and put it on. Walking out onto the street, the young gang leader found the nearest random man she could find and pointed her inexplicable golden pimp cane towards him.

"You there!" she shouted! "You look like you haven't had sex in years!"

Offended, the man went on his way through the docks, leaving a disappointed Ruby behind to find another target. She quickly found one in the form of a Faunus sailor holding hands with a human girl nearby.

"How about you!" Ruby said approaching him. "I promise you won't be disappointed!"

"Uh, I have a girlfriend" he said, pointing towards the woman next to him.

"How about a group special, then?" Ruby said, unfazed. "Each extra person only has to pay half as much!"

The girl slapped Ruby in the face and started dragging her boyfriend away, but the novice pimp was not discouraged in the slightest. Instead, she just found another man close by, snuck up behind him, and delivered a cracking blow with her pimp cane directly into his junk.

"Oooh, that looks painful" Ruby said over the man as he collapsed to the ground in pain. "But for just fifty Lien, one of my girls can make it feel all better".

"I think you should leave the pimping to the professionals…" Blake said, walking up to Ruby and taking away the girl's hat and cane.

"Aw, but I was just about to get a customer!" Ruby whined.

"Maybe next time" Blake said, careful not to hurt Ruby's ego. "Let's head on home. I'm sure Weiss and Yang will be very excited to hear how well things went".

* * *

"Do you smell, that, Lieutenant?" said the man in the white trench coat, more commonly known as Roman Torchwick. He took in a long sniff by his office window overlooking the commercial district before letting out a long, contented sigh. "That's the smell of victory! Well, technically it's dead bodies, Dust, and burning cars, but you get the picture".

Roman's phone started buzzing in his coat pocket, and he took it out with an annoyed look on his face.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm in the middle of gloating maniacally?" he said angrily into the phone.

"Uh, no sir" came the response.

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"That was rhetorical" he said. "Honestly, sometimes it feels like I'm surrounded by absolute morons! No wonder The Saints have been killing you animals in droves".

"Uh, about that sir" the man on the phone said nervously. "No one's been reporting in from the docks. We sent someone over, and he said he saw rose petals and people dressed in red everywhere. I think The Saints might have taken over".

Roman hung up his phone and sat back down in his green leather chair, calmly tapping two of his fingers together. Then suddenly, he exploded in a fit of rage and tossed his mobile phone as hard as he could towards his Lieutenant, which just bounced harmlessly off the Faunus man's ripped chest.

"You!" he said, pointing towards the Faunus man. "What the hell am I paying you for? Well, it's not so you can stand around all day and take up space that I could be using to put a new Vacuo armoire! Now get out there, and take care of these little brats once and for all!"

"You don't need to say it twice, sir".


	7. Chapter 7

"So, how'd it go?" Yang asked as she saw Ruby and Blake reenter Beacon's old cafeteria. Yang was currently watching TV with her feet up while Weiss desperately tried to wash the soot out of one of her dresses nearby.

"It was great!" Ruby exclaimed. "I got to be a pimp!"

"I guess that's technically true" Blake said. "If you stretch the definition of 'pimp' as far as possible".

"Nice!" Yang said approvingly. "My little sister's growing up! Did you get to eat any 'fish tacos' while you were out there?"

"Actually, I didn't see any taco stands anywhere" Ruby admitted. "Maybe they were closed down for the night".

"Should I…?" Blake quietly asked Yang.

"Nah" Yang whispered back. "She'll figure it out on her own…I hope".

"Anyways, how did you guys' trip go?" Ruby asked Weiss and Yang.

"Well, aside from that bomb ruining my good dress, I think it went pretty well" Weiss said as she wrung out her soaking dress into a bucket of water. "We didn't get any money, but we caused a lot of damage. I think they're actually talking about it on the news right now".

"Oh, let me see!" Ruby said, running over to their dingy six-inch TV in the corner of the room and turning up the sound.

On screen, Ruby could see a male news reporter talking to a woman with bright green eyes and red hair with a ponytail so long that it nearly reached the round. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a grey vest, blue jeans with grey kneepads on them, and a black police chief's cap with the initials V.P.D. inscribed onto a golden police badge on the front the hat. They were both standing in front of a smoking and partially burned building.

"Chief Nikos, do you have any idea who was behind the attack on the First Bank of Vale last night?" the reporter asked, his microphone directly in the tall redheaded woman's face.

"We have reason to believe that the attack is related to the recent string of gang violence that has been occurring across the city, but we cannot confirm this as of yet" the woman explained level headedly. "But rest assured that the Vale Police Department is currently doing everything in its power to bring those responsible to justice as soon as we can".

"Do you have any comment on the reports of two former Huntresses, including wanted felon Yang Xiao Long…"

"Hey, they said your name sis!" Ruby said, pointing at the screen.

"…were at the scene of the attack last night?" asked the reporter.

"My officers are reviewing the surveillance footage to identify the suspects as we speak" the police woman replied. "But they will face justice, regardless of who they were".

"Really?" said the reporter. "So you aren't going easy on them just because you were once…"

"I believe that's enough questions for today" Chief Nikos said sternly. "Good day, sir".

"Nice job, girls" Ruby said as she turned off their TV. "That was some pretty good destruction you caused".

"Eh, I could have done better" Yang shrugged. "I only killed ten people last night".

"So, what's the plan now, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Now, we wait" Ruby explained. "It could take days, weeks, even months but…hang on, my phone is ringing. Hello?"

"It's happening" said the voice on the other end.

Ruby let out a delighted gasp in response. "You finally got the courage to ask that pretty girl out on a date?"

"What? No!" said the voice. "The White Fang are getting ready to move! They'll be at the docks in three hours, tops".

"Oh! Gotcha" Ruby said, hanging up. "Change of plans; grab your biggest, coolest guns and get down to the agricultural district docks ASAP!"

"Hell yeah!" Yang shouted. "Fuck waiting! I want to tear some shit up!"

"I hope you know what you're doing" Blake said as she grabbed her sub-machine guns and loaded them.

"Don't worry" Weiss interjected calmly. "As long as you and Yang actually do your jobs this time, I'm sure everything will be just fine".

* * *

Things were oddly quiet at the fishing docks that morning as The Saints carefully laid their trap. Gang members were hiding around every corner and behind every trash can. The sex-workers were taken off the streets and replaced by Saints in disguise. Ruby, after trying in vain to find a taco stand, took up position with an RPG on top of a warehouse overlooking the main road into the area. Weiss was lying down next to her, armed with a sniper rifle she bought just that morning using the money stolen from the dead White Fang pimps.

"Okay, be sure to aim for the car in the front" Weiss told Ruby. "There's a good chance that's where Neo will be".

"You can count on me!" Ruby said with a grin a mile wide plastered on her face. "Nothing's going stop me from shooting this thing!"

"Good to know" Weiss said, looking down the scope of her sniper rifle.

The first White Fang car came into view a few minutes later, flanked on both sides by Faunus men on motorcycles armed with shotguns. Even more White Fang gang members followed in behind them, but Weiss didn't notice. She was too busy paying attention to the man driving the leading car, who had a large white mask and White Fang tattoos on his left arm.

The same mask and tattoos Weiss saw all those years ago.

"Give me the gun, Ruby" Weiss said suddenly.

"What?" Ruby said back. "No way, I called it!"

"I said, give it here!" Weiss said, grabbing for Ruby's rocket launcher.

"Nuh uh! Use your own gun!" Ruby replied.

In their struggle, the young gang leader accidentally pulled the trigger on the RPG, sending its payload directly into a wall on the other side of the street. The White Fang saw the explosion and immediately stopped their vehicles, dashing into cover behind dumpsters and in alleyways. The exception was the White Fang Lieutenant, who stood out in the open, massive chainsaw in hand, and ignoring the massive firefight breaking out around him.

"Weiss, what did you do that for?" Ruby whined. "You made me miss my shot! That explosion would have been so cool!"

Weiss ignored Ruby and took aim at the colossal Faunus man with her sniper rifle and opened fire, hitting him square in the chest with every shot in her clip. The bullets just ricocheted off his torso, however, demonstrating that he had an incredibly strong aura. Refusing to give up, Weiss activated her semblance, summoned a white glyph in front of her, and launched herself directly towards the White Fang leader.

She tried hitting the man in the side of the head with the butt of her sniper rifle, but he managed to block it with his chainsaw and cut the gun in half. The former heiress adapted quickly when she hit the ground, however, and started to use the sawed of barrel of the gun like it was a saber. Each one of her lightning fast jabs weakened the enormous man's aura a little bit further.

But the Lieutenant, in spite of his size, was fast on his feet as well and dodged many of Weiss's blows. His chainsaw moved just as quickly, coming far too close for comfort as the white haired girl kept dodging out of the way.

"What is she doing?" Blake thought to herself as she fought off the White Fang nearby. "She's going to get herself killed!"

Yang, meanwhile, was too busy with her own meat realize what Weiss had gotten herself into.

"Nine! Ten! Eleven!" she shouted with every shell fired from her shotgun. "I'm on a roll!"

She quickly ran out of ammunition, however, and was forced to toss the gun to the side. Rather than waste time searching for a new one, she merely ran forward and started taking them out with her fists instead.

"Oh no!" Ruby said from her rooftop overlooking the action. "Everyone's playing without me!"

Quick to rectify the situation, Ruby grabbed a handgun and leapt down from the top of the building, opening fire on the first person in white that she saw. It wasn't long until Ruby and the other Saints had completely decimated the attacking White Fang forces, causing the few survivors to start retreating.

Weiss did not care about her gang's imminent victory, however, and focused entirely on killing the man standing in front of her. When she saw that his aura had almost completely dissipated, she thrust her makeshift sword forward, directly towards his heart.

"I know you" the Faunus man said as he dodged out of the way grabbed onto Weiss's wrist.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Weiss said desperately as she struggled, but the Lieutenant was far too strong.

"Maybe now I can complete the set" the man said menacingly, lifting the woman up by the arm and bringing them face to face.

"Weiss!" Blake cried, running up to the two. "Put her down. Now!"

"You got lucky this time, Schnee" the Lieutenant said before casually tossing the young woman into Blake, knocking Blake to the ground. He then got back in his car and drove off, heading back towards the White Fang held part of town.

"Blake, Weiss!" Ruby said as saw the two hit the ground. "Are you two all right?"

"Ah!" Weiss whimpered, grabbing her left arm. "That doesn't matter! Get him, before he gets away!"

"No way, not until we get you to a hospital" Ruby said, picking Weiss up bridal style. "How are you going to kill baddies with only one arm?"

"I don't care!" the wounded woman shouted with tears forming in the pits of her eyes, both from pain and frustration. "I know you're fast enough, Ruby! Kill him! Rip his fucking guts out!"

"It's okay, Weiss, it's okay" Ruby said softly. "Just get some rest, okay?"

* * *

Roman Torchwick nervously tapped his left hand against his desk as his cell phone continued ringing in his right. Normally he would be yelling at his subordinates after the mess that occurred at the docks earlier that day, but the redhead's office was uncharacteristically quiet that evening as he continued listening closely to the speaker of his phone. The man's spine suddenly straightened as he finally heard someone pickup on the other end.

"Cinder! Baby!" he said in a relaxed tone. "How are you doing?"

"What do you want, Roman?" came the bored response.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Roman said cheerfully. "Can't a guy just call up his favorite woman in the world and check up on her?"

"The only lady you love is Lady Lien" Cinder replied.

"Ah, right to my heart" Roman said overdramatically. "This is like the divorce, all over again".

"Just cut to the point, Torchwick" Cinder said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, if you insist" Roman sighed. "I'm having trouble dealing with some…competition here in my part of town: The Saints".

"Really?" Cinder asked. "I haven't heard of them".

"Yes, of course you haven't" Roman said, smiling bitterly. "But, as much as I'd hate to admit it, they're proving a tiny bit too much for me to handle. So, if you wouldn't mind loaning me back Emerald and Mercury for a little while…"

"An admirable attempt at groveling, Torchwick," Cinder said smugly, "but you'll have to try harder than that".

"Name your price" Roman said, his voice suddenly turning serious.

"Ten million Lien. No less" Cinder replied.

"Hmm, you know what? I'll have to get back to you on that offer" Roman said insincerely. "Don't bother calling us, we'll call you".

Roman then hung up his cell phone, only for it to start ringing moments later. The call was not from Cinder, however; it was from one of his informants.

"Yes?" he said into the receiver. "Uhuh? Oh reeeally? That's interesting".

Roman ended his call and turned towards his Lieutenant, who had been standing patiently at attention the whole time.

"Good news, boy! Looks like you have a chance to finish what you started".


	8. Chapter 8

"Knock, knock!" Ruby said cheerfully as she tapped on Weiss's door.

"Come in" Weiss called from her hospital bed.

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake entered Weiss's room at Magenta Memorial Hospital and saw their fellow Saint with her brand new cast encasing her left arm. It had been about two hours since the confrontation at the docks that morning, and Weiss was starting to feel a little bit better about what had happened.

"We have presents!" Ruby said excitedly as she dashed over to her wounded friend. "I got you some chocolate, some white roses, a teddy bear, and a special surprise we had gift-wrapped just for you!"

"Uh, thanks Ruby" Weiss said from under the mountain of gifts that had just been thrust upon her. "But it's just a broken arm! You didn't have to drive me to the hospital, let alone do all this for me".

"Well, I figured I still owed you for that whole 'lap-dance' thing a week ago" Ruby explained.

"Wait, you gave Ruby a lap-dance?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. "No wonder she likes you so much".

"No!" Weiss denied, blushing. "That's not what happened at all! Blake…"

"Ah, say no more" Yang said, putting up her hand. "But you better take responsibility for stealing my sister's heart. She's a very sensitive girl, after all, and I'd HATE to see her upset…"

Weiss swallowed nervously.

"Ha! I'm just messing with you!" Yang laughed, slapping the white haired girl a bit too roughly on the back. "Well, don't just sit there! Open your gift!"

Weiss tore the balloon-print wrapping paper off the incredibly long box and lifted the lid, revealing a fully loaded rocket propelled grenade launcher resting inside.

"I saw how upset you were when I didn't let you use mine, so now we each have one!" said Ruby. "Now we can blow shit up together, as best friends!"

"Thank you, Ruby" Weiss said as she put the gun down carefully, "but that wasn't why I was angry".

"Really?" Ruby asked tepidly. "Did…did I do something wrong? Because if I did, I'm super-duper sorry".

For as bad as the last day had been, Weiss couldn't help but laugh at what Ruby had just said. She laughed so hard that she was afraid that she might break open her new cast, but Weiss couldn't control herself.

"You're apologizing to me?" Weiss asked, incredulous. "I nearly got us all killed! And all because I couldn't control myself…"

"That man was the one who killed Weiss's family" Blake explained to the others.

"That's right" Weiss said. "After the White Fang bankrupted the company, dad took what little we had left and tried to retire in peace with me and my sister. But the Schnee Dust Company wasn't enough for those animals. They wanted more…I barely made it to the safe-room in time".

"Your father did some pretty awful things to Faunus workers when he was in charge of the company" said Blake. "It makes sense that they wanted revenge".

"Revenge? Ha!" Weiss laughed bitterly. "They just wanted the rest of my father's valuables. I saw the whole thing on the mansion's security cameras…" Tears were beginning to form in the white haired girl's eyes. "They-"

"Shush" Ruby said, putting her finger of Weiss's mouth. She then opened up Weiss's box of chocolates and took out a piece.

"What?" Weiss asked, confused. "But I wasn't done-"

"Yes you are" Ruby said, shoving the chocolate into Weiss's mouth. "I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, Weiss, and you don't have to relive it if you don't want to. So, just sit back and enjoy your chocolate!"

"You better listen to her" said Yang. "She is your boss after all".

Weiss swallowed the chocolate in her mouth and felt a sweet sensation rush through her entire body.

"Thank you…" she said softly.

A scream from the hospital hall interrupted Weiss before she could say any more, and the four women turned to see a doctor standing in the doorway of the room. He was staring directly at Weiss's new rocket launcher, which was still lying next to her on the bed.

"Uh, um" he stammered awkwardly. "I think I hear a patient flat-lining! I'll be right back…"

"Ruby…" Weiss said, her voice turning sour. "You remembered to bribe or threaten the hospital staff into staying quiet about my stay, right?"

"Oh yeah" Ruby said absent mindedly. "I knew there was something I was supposed to do earlier".

* * *

At the same time in the west wing of the hospital, dozens of police officers loaded their weapons and started getting ready for battle. Guns were being loaded, armor was being put on, and nerves were being steeled. Police chief Pyrrha Nikos herself was there to oversee it all, watching her men and women prepare for the fight to come.

"Attention officers!" Pyrrha shouted, directing attention towards her before she began explaining her plan.

"We received a tip from a reliable source that an incredibly dangerous fugitive, Weiss Schnee, is staying at this hospital. She is located on the fifth floor of the main building, in room 5C. Our job is to assist the SWAT team entering from the roof and arrest her and any other suspects we find as quickly as possible. The building has not been fully evacuated to avoid alerting the target, so be sure to check your fire! Are we clear?"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" came the unanimous response.

"Alright, let's move out!" she ordered, grabbing her own assault rifle.

"Please, please don't screw this up!" Pyrrha thought to herself nervously. "Everyone is watching, so you can't screw this up!"

* * *

Outside the east wing of the hospital, another group of armed persons began preparing their assault on the hospital. Dozens of White Fang members loaded their sub-machine guns and sharpened their claws as they awaited orders from their leader.

Finally, the Lieutenant approached the front of the pack with his chainsaw in one hand and a large cell phone in the other. He held up the phone and Roman Torchwick's face appeared onscreen a few seconds later.

"Okay kiddies, listen up" Roman said from the comfort and safety of his office. "Big boy here didn't do a very good job at killing Weiss Schnee, so you're here to finish the job. Find her, and any other Saint in the building, and fill them full of Dust! Whoever finishes her off gets ten thousand Lien and the right to skull-fuck her first. Happy hunting! Oh, and remember; I get half of any drugs you steal from the hospital".

The Lieutenant then walked up to the side-door of the hospital, which was made of solid steel, and kicked it in. The rest of the White Fang followed behind shortly afterwards.

* * *

The VPD and the White Fang collided with each other in the center of the hospital, directly in front of the stairs leading up to the floor Weiss was staying on. The police were very confused and did not know what to do at first, but that question was swiftly answered as The White Fang opened fire, killing three of them.

"Captain Pyrrha, we're pinned down!" an officer yelled as she hid behind a vending machine. "They're everywhere!"

"I've got you!" Pyrrha shouted, stepping into the line of fire. She then activated her semblance and grabbed hold of the Faunus' guns with her magnetic field, tossing them to the side. But, determined to get their rewards, the gangsters decided to try and rush the tall woman.

Pyrrha was able to fight them off easily using the butt of her rifle, but they just kept coming. Realizing she was losing time, Pyrrha ordered her officers to go up to the fifth floor without her.

"What about you, ma'am?" one of them asked.

"I'll be fine, just get going!" she called as she smacked another White Fang member across the face. "Make sure she doesn't escape!"

* * *

It didn't take The Saints long to hear the chaos that was breaking out downstairs, or to realize exactly what was going on.

"Shit" Weiss cursed. "You're going to be the death of me, Ruby".

"Maybe, but not today!" Ruby announced proudly. "Blake, how do we get out of here?"

"There's a helipad on the roof for medivac helicopters and ospreys" Blake replied. "If there's one there, then that's our best bet".

"Have any of you ever flown one of those things?" Weiss asked.

"Not in real life" said Blake.

"Nuh-uh" replied Ruby.

"How hard can it be?" Yang said, shrugging.

"We're doomed" Weiss said miserably.

Suddenly, several armed SWAT officers burst into the room, guns carefully aimed at each of the four women.

"Freeze!" shouted their leader. "Put your hands in the air!"

"Okay, you asked for it" Yang said before upper cutting the nearest officer. The others tried to open fire on the blonde haired woman, but found their guns suddenly missing from their hands and rose petals in their place.

"Looking for these?" Ruby asked tauntingly with their guns in her arms.

The remaining officers tried to escape, but they didn't make it far before Blake took them each down with her silenced pistol.

"You two clear a way to the roof" Blake said as she picked up Weiss's new rocket launcher. "I'll follow behind with Weiss".

"You got it!" Yang said before dashing out of the room with her sister, each armed with an officer's gun.

Weiss gathered up her teddy bear and roses and followed closely behind her friends until they reached the stairs and they heard the thunderous footsteps of Pyrrha's officers closing in behind them.

"Move it!" Yang ordered as she fired down the stairs at the police. "I'll hold them off!"

The three other women ran to the roof of the hospital as quickly as they could, and found two ospreys parked on the roof of the hospital. One was the osprey that dropped off the SWAT team, and its pilot immediately took off when he saw The Saints burst out onto the roof. The other was a small ambulance osprey, which Blake swiftly climbed into the pilot seat of.

"You can get us back home in one piece, right?" Weiss asked as Ruby helped her and her gifts into the osprey.

"Sure" Blake said calmly. "I've flown dozens of these in flight simulators on my laptop".

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Weiss yelled over the igniting engines.

Blake took off as soon as Yang was on board and started flying southeast, but the police were not far behind in two of their own ospreys. Blake jerked the plane back and forth as she tried desperately to dodge the cops' incoming fire.

"Hey Weiss, how about we try out your new gun?" Ruby asked over the gunfire.

"I don't think this is the best time, Ruby" Weiss replied as she struggled to stay in her seat. "And, in case you forgot, my arm is broken!"

"Don't worry, I'll help!" Ruby said, grabbing the RPG off the floor and placing the handle in Weiss's good hand.

"Now remember, firing a rocket launcher is a lot like making pancakes; they both involve lots of explosives that could kill you at any moment!" Ruby explained.

"Uh, I think you might have been making pancakes wrong, Ruby" Weiss said nervously.

"You only say that because you haven't eaten any" interjected Yang.

"That's the other thing they have in common!" Ruby said gleefully. "The harder the shot, the more satisfying the payoff! Blake, Yang! Let's do this!"

Blake turned the osprey sharply to give her friends a better shot at their pursuers, Yang held open the sliding osprey door, and Ruby helped support the end of the gun as Weiss took aim through the scope. The rocket left the end of the barrel with a loud whoosh, colliding with one osprey's tail and sending it spinning out into the other. They both hit the river below them in a fireball of death and destruction, leaving the four women to escape unpursued.

"Yes!" cried Ruby. "Nice shot, Weiss!"

"Yeah, thanks" Weiss said, trying not to pass out from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "But let's please go home before I break something else".

* * *

The White Fang Lieutenant slowly lumbered over to Captain Pyrrha over the unconscious bodies of his men. Pyrrha's men were busy upstairs, and the Lieutenant's men had all been wiped out, leaving the two of them alone together. Pyrrha did not look the least bit intimidated as the gigantic man approached her with his chainsaw.

"You made a big mistake coming here" the Faunus man said, looking down on the young woman.

"Maybe" she admitted, looking around at all the damage that had been done to the hospital. "Look, I don't want anyone else to get hurt here today. Please, just surrender, and maybe they'll go easy on you".

The Lieutenant's answer came in the form of him swinging his chainsaw directly towards the officer's neck, but, much to his surprise, it didn't connect. Pyrrha was able to use her semblance to keep the giant chunk of metal from colliding with her, but only just barely. The man was unbelievably strong.

Pyrrha threw blade from the man's hands with a push, leaving him unarmed but not defenseless. The red haired woman opened fire with her rifle, but the shots barely had any effect. The Lieutenant dived forward and kneed Pyrrha directly in the stomach, sending her through a window and into an operating room. The police captain took advantage of being around so many sharp knives, however, and started tossing blades at the White Fang thug with her semblance.

The blades tore at his clothes, but the Lieutenant remained unharmed as he jumped through the window after her and started throwing punches as fast as he could at the police captain. Pyrrha could feel her aura weaken with every blow, taking her to within moments of complete helplessness.

"Ma'am!" a voice cried out from behind them.

Pyrrha turned her head and saw her officers who tried, and failed, to arrest Weiss upstairs, and each of them now had their guns trained on the White Fang Lieutenant through the window she was tossed through.

"Not this again" the Lieutenant said in an annoyed voice before dashing out the door behind him. A few officers chased after him, but most stayed to check on their leader.

"I'm sorry, but she got away" one of Pyrrha's men told her. "Are you okay, Captain?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine" she said, dusting herself off. "But I'm afraid the public might not see it that way".


	9. Chapter 9

Roman Torchwick lightly tapped his silver cane against the carpet as he looked out his office window to the northeast commercial district below. Cars were speeding by in the streets below as construction workers toiled tirelessly to repair the front of Torchwick's bank, but he wasn't paying attention to any of those things. Instead, his eyes were fixed upon the golden horizon to the east. The Lieutenant was standing nearby, in his usual spot.

"Five years already, huh? Man how time flies" said Torchwick. "It feels like just yesterday I broke you and your friends out of Schnee's dog pound".

"I remember that, sir" the Lieutenant said nervously.

"Oh really?" Torchwick asked as he turned around. "You could have fooled me with how poorly you performed yesterday. But, I suppose I shouldn't blame you. After all, it's easy to forget about the person who saved your life, and how much you owe them. It just slips the mind every once in a while".

"Sir…" the tall Faunus man began to say, but was interrupted by Torchwick.

"No, no, no, don't worry about it" said Roman. "You've been under a lot of stress lately, especially after that girl neutered you and took away your favorite toy. So, you get to go on a little vacation for the next week!"

"Really, sir?" the Lieutenant asked in disbelief.

"Of course!" said Torchwick. "I'm sure Neo can more than handle things while you're gone…"

"What!?" the Faunus yelled. "But she's just a girl!"

"And yet she did more damage to The Saints in her one attack than in your two" Torchwick pointed out. "Funny how that math works out, huh? So, just sit back and relax, and we'll take care of everything for you".

The Lieutenant didn't say a word as he got up and headed out the door, but it was clear he was thinking about anything but time off.

"Ooh, that was cruel, even by your standards" a feminine voice said seemingly from nowhere.

"You know what they say about glass houses, Neo" said teasingly towards a panel in the ceiling. A moment later and the panel slid aside, allowing Neopolitan to float gracefully down into the room with her parasol.

"Best case scenario, he kills them all and I won't even have to give him any reward money" Roman cheerfully explained as he walked back to his desk. "Worst case scenario, I get more office space and you finally get to be my number two! Either way, I win!"

"Hmm, as much as I like the sound of that, you're crazy if you think I'll get your coffee for you every morning" Neo said teasingly.

"Oh well, a man can dream" Torchwick responded.

"And what about the rest of the petting zoo?" Neo asked, making herself at home in one of Roman's chairs. "Won't they be upset about my lack of fur and bad stench?"

"Ah, who cares?" Torchwick said. "They're so angry at The Saints right now, I could issue a breathing fee and they'd tolerate it".

"And you would if you could" Neo replied.

"You know me too well, my dear".

* * *

Ruby eagerly sat in front of her tiny TV, wearing her red pajamas and eating her Marshmallow Flakes, as she awaited the morning news.

"And now for a special report on the attack on Magenta Memorial Hospital" said an announcer.

"Hey guys, it's on!" Ruby shouted at her friends as they all tiredly prepared for their day.

"Ruby, you were there" Yang said as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Why do you want to watch this?"

"So I can see those ospreys explode again, duh!" Ruby said, returning to her cereal and milk.

"Yesterday, what was normally a place of care and wellness became a hotbed of death and destruction as the attempted police capture of Weiss Schnee devolved into an all-out firefight with The Saints and The White Fang" a female news anchor explained. "As a result, fourteen police officers will not be returning home to their families".

The news then cut to footage taken from a news helicopter of two police ospreys crashing and exploding into a river, creating an enormous fireball.

"Woohoo!" Ruby cheered. "Now that's good television".

"But on the brighter side, Police Chief Pyrrha Nikos broke her personal record for the most arrests made in one day, with over thirty criminals now under lock and key" the anchorwoman went on to explain. "But all four of the Huntresses who were at the scene managed to escape unharmed, further fueling speculation that Chief Nikos-"

The anchorwoman was abruptly cut off when the TV unexpectedly turned itself off. Ruby turned around slightly and saw Blake standing behind her with a remote in her hands.

"Hey, I was watching that!" Ruby complained.

"Too much TV will rot your brain, you know" Blake responded.

"You're one to talk, Miss Laptop" Ruby teased.

"That's different" Blake said. "I do important research whenever I'm on my computer".

"Is that what you call reading smutty 'Ninjas of Love' fanfiction?" Yang said loudly from the other end of the room, causing Blake to blush a little.

"A-anyways, what's on the agenda today, ma'am?" Blake asked, trying to change the subject.

"Eating cereal" Ruby replied, returning to her breakfast.

"I meant after that" Blake clarified.

"Oh!" said Ruby. "Well, the White Fang lost a lot of guys yesterday, right? It'll take them a while to get back on their feet, so we should probably attack them now, before they have a chance to recover".

"That's a much better plan" Blake said. "So, where should we hit?"

"Hmm…" Ruby mumbled while she thought. "I don't know, but I know someone who does".

* * *

"So, you're already graduating up to the strong stuff, eh?" Velvet said as she led Blake and Ruby through the back alleys of the southeast residential district. "You remind me of myself a few years ago".

"Oh, they're not for me" Ruby explained. "I just want to sell them".

"Sure you do, babe" Velvet said doubtfully. "Anyways, we're almost there".

Blake suddenly stopped her tracks and put a hand over her sensitive nose.

"Augh, what's that smell?" Blake asked.

"That's what we came for, bra" Velvet said as she rounded a corner. "Welcome to Chartreus Meadows!"

Standing before them was a large trailer park with beaten-up pickup trucks and broken glass as far as the eye could see. Inside, Faunus men and women went about their days under the 'protection' of White Fang members armed with sub-machine guns. In spite of the park's name, the ground was brown and muddy, and the smell in the air was anything but freshly cut grass.

"This is where the White Fang make their real dough" Velvet explained. "The labs here can make for a few Lien shit that can be sold for thousands! It's all super addictive too, so you'll always have someone to sell to".

"Wow" Ruby said. "Even more addictive than caffeine?"

"Not quite, but close" Velvet said, laughing. "My dealers would absolutely love it if you hooked us up with that dope; I'll even raise your cut to fifty percent".

"Don't worry Velvet, you can count on us!" Ruby said cheerfully, taking out her gun.

"Really?" asked the rabbit woman. "Even the cops are afraid to go in there, you know".

"Don't worry, I can handle a few gang bangers" Ruby replied casually before running off into the trailer park.

"Wait!" Velvet called after her. "That's not why they're scared!"

Velvet's warning was drowned out by Ruby's gunshots as she ran up to the closest group of White Fang that she could find and introduced their brains to sunlight for the first time.

Velvet sighed and shook her head as the screaming residents of Chartreus Meadows streamed out of the trailer park.

"That girl is nuts!" Velvet said to Blake. "Try to make sure she doesn't blow herself up".

"That's basically my job description now" Blake said before following in after her boss.

"Hold it right there!" a White Fang enforcer shouted as he fired his revolver towards Ruby, missing every shot.

"Actually, why don't you hold it?" Ruby said as she ran past the man and tossed a live grenade into his hands.

"Ruby!" Blake yelled as she ducked out of the way of the explosion. "You need to be more careful!"

"Oh, lighten up Blake-y!" Ruby said as punched a woman in the face and stole her shotgun.

"I'm serious Ruby, you need to stop blowing everything up!" Blake said, carefully taking down as many White Fang as she could with her silenced pistol.

"Oh, what's the worst that could-"

A massive explosion abruptly cut the crime boss off, tearing apart an entire double wide trailer. One of Ruby's stray shots knocked over some precarious chemicals in one the White Fang's drug labs hidden behind a mobile home, which quickly burst into flames and combusted all the other dangerous compounds around it. The resulting eruption knocked the red hooded girl off her feet and right onto her back, knocking her out.

"Ruby!" Blake yelled, running up to her friend. "Please, please wake up!"

The girl's eyes began to open a few seconds later.

"That was…that was…" Ruby said softly. "That was awesome! Let's do it again!"

Before Blake could react, Ruby was already back on her feet and looking for more drug labs that she could blow up.

"No, Ruby! Wait!" Blake called out, running after Ruby.

* * *

Torchwick's Lieutenant slowly drove through the streets of Vale in his grey sedan with his cell phone resting on the dashboard. His right hand twitched impatiently as he awaited a very important phone call.

At last, it rang.

"They're at the trailer park" the informant said on the other end. "You better get there fast".

The Lieutenant dropped his phone and hit the gas pedal, almost hitting some people who were trying to cross the street.

"I won't be running this time".

* * *

"Awesome!" Ruby shouted as a well-aimed shot blew up yet another drug lab. "Did you see that one, Blake? That explosion was ginormous! Let's destroy another!"

"We can't, Ruby" Blake said dryly. "There aren't any more".

"Aww, really?" Ruby whined.

"Yes, I checked" Blake said. "You blew up every lab and, consequently, every stash of drugs in the entire trailer park".

It took a few moments for the gears in Ruby's head to turn enough for the young girl to figure out exactly what that meant.

"Oooh" Ruby said in realization. "That's not a good thing, is it?"

"Well, the White Fang lost one of their best money-makers, but it'll be a while before Velvet gets to sell any higher priced drugs" Blake explained. "That is, assuming the operation here can even be recovered".

"Well…what about Beacon?" Ruby asked. "I've been exploring, and they have all these really cool science classrooms, with all kinds of chemicals and equipment still there. Why don't we just make the drugs there?"

"I suppose that could work" Blake said, scratching chin. "But you'll have to promise not to blow up that lab too".

"Saint's honor" Ruby said, putting a hand over her heart.

The two made their way back towards the front gates of Chartreus Meadows, but were stopped by the arrival of a large grey car with darkly tinted windows. Ruby and Blake readied their guns, but the car just sat there blocking the exit, its headlights staring at them like a pair of hateful eyes.

"Maybe their GPS is broken?" Ruby asked.

"I don't think so…" Blake replied.

Without warning, the car roared its engines and shot forward directly towards Ruby, clearly intending to crush the girl under its treads.

Ruby, rather than dodging out of the way like Blake, jumped onto the roof of the car and stood on top of it as the unknown madman continued to drive wildly through the ruins of the trailer park.

"Yahoo!" Ruby shouted excitedly. "Look, Blake! I'm riding bareback!"

Ruby's gloating was interrupted by a bullet shooting through the roof of the car, hitting the young girl in the cheek and leaving a nasty bruise through Ruby's aura.

"Ow!" Ruby cried out, rubbing her face.

She didn't have much time to recover before more shots followed, forcing her to lose her balance and fall off the roof of the car. Thankfully for her, Blake managed to pull Ruby under one of the remaining mobile homes before the driver could see where the crime boss had landed.

"Don't worry Ruby, I've got this" Blake said as she loaded her sub-machine gun.

"Wait!" Ruby said. "Do you smell that?"

"Ugh, how could I not?" Blake asked.

"I've got a plan".

* * *

"Yoohoo!" Ruby called out from in front of the trailer she was just hiding under. "Mr. Driver! Do you want to play a game?"

The car noticed Ruby immediately and turned towards her, its headlights glaring daggers into the young girl.

"It's called 'chicken'! First to dodge out of the way loses." Ruby explained. "Are you up for it? Or are you too scared?"

The driver floored the gas pedal of his car, speeding towards Ruby as fast as he could.

Ruby stood idly by as she filed her nails.

The car was now going over a hundred miles per hour, and still accelerating at a speed that would kill most people.

Ruby didn't even look up as she played solitaire on her phone.

Then, just before it was too late, Ruby activated her semblance and dodged out of the way at lightning speed, leaving the White Fang vehicle to crash into the mobile home and the drug lab inside, blowing them all sky high in a sizzling inferno.

"Well, what do you know?" Ruby said mournfully. "I lost".

"I guess there was one left after all" Blake said as she emerged from her hiding place. "Good job, Ruby"

"Thanks, just wait until the girls…" Ruby began to say before noticing something on the ground in front of her.

Sitting there in the dirt was the White Fang Lieutenant's signature white mask, blown from wreckage of the White Fang car that attacked them. It was partially scorched from the fire, but there was no mistaking that it was his.

"Oh no" Ruby gasped. "That was the man who killed Weiss's family!"

"Uh, isn't that a good thing?" Blake asked.

"No, you don't understand!" Ruby shouted, flailing her arms around in a panic. "I stole her kill! Weiss is going to be so disappointed when she finds out about this!"

"Well, there's not much we can do about that now" Blake replied. "It's not like we can make her think she killed him".


	10. Chapter 10

A few days had passed since the firework show at Chartreus Meadows and The Saints' new drug factory was already beginning to pump out product. Velvet was more than happy to provide the gang with recipes for drugs many of them had never even heard of, but proved to be incredibly popular on the streets.

Yang Xiao Long was currently carrying a large amount of ingredients to resupply the repurposed classrooms. The jars of Dust, barrels of tar, and bottles of cleaning products were stacked over ten feet high, but it wasn't the immense weight that caused Yang to groan when she dropped the heap onto the hallway floor with a loud thud.

"Augh, if I wanted to haul around bleach all day, I'd get a job as a maid again" Yang complained to Blake, who was standing in a lab coat nearby. "Are you sure we aren't making rat poison with this shit?"

"Well, that is one use of 'Nevermore'" Blake explained. "But I don't think we should let our buyers know about that".

"Well, as much as I love killing people from the safety of Beacon, I want some real action!" Yang said, punching the air. "It just isn't any fun unless you get up close and personal with them. Aren't there some White Fang we can go and bust up right about now?"

"Actually, I'm glad you asked" Blake said as she took off her lab coat. "There are still some strip clubs in the southeast commercial district owned by the White Fang, though none of them are as big as the Cat House was. With all the men they've been losing lately, security should be weak enough for us to take over the whole neighborhood. You want to go over and 'make it rain' Dust?"

"Hell yeah!" Yang said excitedly. "I'll go get Ruby!"

"That won't be necessary" said Blake. "She's going to be a bit…busy today with Weiss".

"Busy with what?" Yang asked curiously.

"It's a long story" Blake explained. "Let's just say she dug herself into a hole, and won't stop until she reaches the other side of Remnant".

"Ha! That's Ruby for you!" Yang laughed. "Alright, let's go; I'm driving".

* * *

"Ruby, this is ridiculous" Weiss complained. Ruby was currently covering the older woman's eyes with her hands and guiding Weiss through the fields outside of Beacon. "Can you please let me see where I'm going!"

"Nope" Ruby replied. "I want your gift to be a complete surprise!"

"Remind me not to tell you when my birthday is" Weiss said bitterly. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost!" Ruby said sweetly. "Just a few more steps…and we're here! Ta-da!"

Ruby took her hands off of Weiss's eyes to reveal…

"…a shed. Just what I've always wanted" Weiss said sarcastically. "Can I go back now? My cast is starting to itch".

"It's not the shed, silly! It's what's inside the shed!" Ruby explained. "The man who killed your family all tied up: the White Fang Lieutenant!"

Weiss's annoyed face suddenly shifted into a look of pure shock. She just stood there with that look on her face for several minutes, unsure of what to do, what to say, or how to feel.

"It's him" was the only thought that went through Weiss's head, and it repeated over and over again until Ruby suddenly cut in.

"I SAID 'IT'S THE MAN WHO-'" Ruby yelled.

"I heard you!" Weiss snapped back. "And for the last time, I don't have a hearing problem! It's just that…after all these years…I didn't think he would just show up on a silver platter for me".

"Yeah, well, nothing but the best for my homies!" Ruby chuckled nervously.

Ruby then took a button out from her pocket and handed it over to Weiss.

"I packed it full of Dust charges, so all you have to do is push this button and he goes up in smoke!" Ruby explained. "So go ahead, avenge your family!"

Weiss stared at the button for a few moments before tossing it to ground.

"No" Weiss said as she started determinedly making her way over to the newly built shed. "I'm going to do this myself".

"W-wait!" Ruby shouted while trying to standing Weiss's way. "I, uh, think he might have a cold! He was coughing really bad a few hours ago, and you don't want to catch it, do you?"

"I think I'll take my chances" Weiss said, walking around her boss.

"What if the explosives go off? Or he escapes!" Ruby said desperately. "You might get hurt!"

"I don't care! I'm going to make him suffer" Weiss said as she kicked in the shed's door, revealing a large man with a bag on his head and his arms tied behind his back kneeling on the ground. He wasn't wearing any White Fang clothing, just a t-shirt and some blue jeans, but the tattoo on his arm was unmistakable.

Weiss took out her pistol with her right hand and put it up to the man's forehead, sending him into a panic.

"Remember me?" Weiss said menacingly. "Of course you do. I was the one who got away. Well, here's your chance to complete the set. Go on. Kill me".

The bound and gagged man of course did nothing.

"Aww, there goes your chance" Weiss said in mock pity. "Now it's my turn!"

Weiss hit the man directly in his temple with the butt of her gun, knocking him over to the ground. She kept up the assault by kicking him repeatedly in the stomach and causing the masked man to groan in pain.

"It's not so fun when you're the one getting fucked, is it?" Weiss swore. "I've waited three years to do this, and I'm going to make sure you pay for what you did to Winter and my father!"

Weiss then took her handgun and shot out the man's knee-caps, blood and bone spraying everywhere as the man begged for mercy inside the bag.

"Let's see you run away this time…" Weiss said, but began to trail off towards the end. "Hey wait, that shouldn't have worked".

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked nervously.

"I mean, every time we've shot the guy, the bullets just bounced straight off!" Weiss pointed out.

"Maybe his aura's just low" Ruby proposed, trying her best not to appear panicked. "I did beat him up pretty badly to get him here".

"You said that was hours ago" said Weiss.

Weiss removed the man's bag to a human man with short blonde hair, who looked nothing like what Weiss had remembered the Lieutenant had looked like underneath his white mask. Weiss then removed his cloth gag and he started sputtering desperately.

"I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry!" he said in a state of terror. "Please just let me go, I'll do whatever you want!"

"Ruby, who is this man?" Weiss asked calmly.

"Uh, some guy I picked up at the gym" Ruby explained. "I said he won a free protein shake, and then I knocked him out and brought him here. Blake did the tattoo".

"And the real Lieutenant?" asked Weiss.

"Dead. I killed him a few days ago" Ruby whimpered.

Weiss remained silent for a few moments with the same shocked look on her face until, very slowly, a smile started to crack across her face.

"…haha…hahaha!" Weiss burst out laughing. The body builder started to laugh awkwardly along with her, but Weiss quickly put an end to that by shooting the poor man in the head and continuing on alone.

"And you did all this…" Weiss said in between laughs, "…for me?"

"Of course I did!" Ruby said like it was the most obvious thing in world. "I felt so guilty when I stole your kill that I had to do something to make up for it! I'm sorry I tried to trick you, Weiss, and that I took your revenge from you. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Don't worry, you've done enough, blockhead" Weiss said in a much cheerier mood than when she entered the shack. "Let's head back".

"Yeah, we could do that" Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head bashfully. "Buuuut I kinda went through the trouble of setting all these explosives, and I was really looking forward to seeing something go 'boom'…"

"Oh, fine" said Weiss. "We'll do it together".

* * *

The bustling streets of the southeast commercial district were almost never quiet, but they became even louder when Yang Xiao Long came rolling in her long pink convertible with a large red rose emblazoned on the hood.

"Is the loud rap music really necessary?" Blake asked from the passenger seat, hands covering her human ears.

"Of course!" Yang responded. "We're gangsters now, Blake! What's the point if you don't flaunt it a little? Plus, dudes dig the car".

"Well then, I hope this car didn't cost that much" Blake shouted over the booming speakers. "Because it's going to get a lot of holes in it if you keep driving around White Fang territory like this!"

"Hm, point taken" said Yang, disappointed. "Alright, buzzkill, we'll pull over".

Yang parked her car on the side of the road and got out to put some coins into a parking meter nearby.

"Really?" Blake asked, incredulous. "You broke about sixteen traffic laws on the way over here, and you're going to follow that one?"

"Good point" Yang said, putting her wallet back into her pocket. "So, where do we start?"

"How about 'The Pink Panther'?" Blake said, pointing to the other side of the street. "It's as good a place as any to start".

"Alright then" Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "How do we take this puppy over?"

"The same way the White Fang did when they first came to town" Blake said, loading her silenced pistol. "Kill all the guards, beat the manager into submission, and then call in our crew to move in when we're done. Lather, rinse, repeat".

"Eh, still better than being a delivery girl" Yang said, shrugging. "Let's do this!"

* * *

"A little to the left" Roman Torchwick said, directing two delivery men as they placed his new Vacuo armoire. "Your other left, you morons!"

It took a few more tries, but the crime boss was finally satisfied with their work.

"Yes, perfect! You can go now" Roman said, shooing away the workers without giving them their tips. "Ahh, nothing could possibly ruin this beautiful day".

Tochwick's phone suddenly started ringing in his pocket, so he took it out and answered it.

"Send help, quick!" shouted a desperate voice on the other end. "It's The Saints again! There are two of them, and-"

The man was cut off by muffled gunshot and the sound of a woman cheering in the background. A few seconds later, Roman turned off his phone and placed it carefully on his desk.

"I had to say it" Torchwick said to himself. "I just had to fucking say it. Oh well, nothing a little ice-cream can't fix".

The crime boss then pressed a button on a microphone on his desk and spoke into it.

"Neo, dear, we may have a situation involving our best friends, The Saints, developing to the south" he said into the mic.

"Do you want me to take care of them?" replied the voice through a nearby speaker.

"Not just yet" Roman said back. "Let's let them get nice and cocky first".

* * *

"Oh, how about this one?" Yang asked right before smashing a bottle of liquor over a White Fang member's head. "Now that's what I call 'punch-drunk'".

The man collapsed to the floor, dead, but Blake did not look the least bit impressed.

"That was the cheesiest one yet" said Blake.

"Pfft, you just can't appreciate my high level of comedy" Yang said, trying to sound as snooty as she could.

"You keep telling yourself that" Blake said flippantly. "Anyways, if you're done traumatizing those young women huddling in the corner, we should probably get going".

"Fine, let's head back the Lady Dragon" Yang said.

"The what?" Blake asked. "You named your car?"

"Hey, when you finally have a special vehicle in your life, you'll understand" Yang explained as she picked up a shotgun off the floor. "Let's go".

Neither Yang nor Blake remembered exactly where she parked, but it was still easy to find their way back; all they had to do was follow the trail of destruction that they left behind them. Dead and dying gangsters littered the streets alongside broken glass, shell casings, and copious amounts of blood.

"Good luck saving that one" Blake said as she passed some paramedics trying to save a Faunus woman's life on the side of the street. "I shot her at least twice in the liver. You may want to start there".

A bit further down the road, a police officer arrived in his patrol car, took out his gun, and was about to order Yang and Blake to surrender when he was suddenly confronted by the barrel of Yang's gun.

"Do you really want to try it?" Yang asked, eyebrow and shotgun cocked.

The officer scrambled back into his vehicle and drove away as fast as he could.

"That's what I thought" said Yang.

They were nearly back to Yang's convertible when the blonde haired girl noticed a store a bit further down the street.

"Oh, hey, is that sex shop?" Yang asked Blake. "You know, I've never actually been in one of those things. Why don't we stop by?"

"Sure" Blake said dryly. "We've already been to over half the strip clubs town, so we might as well round out this little excursion".

"Oh that reminds me" said Yang. "Now that we own some strip clubs again, does that mean we can move your friends off the streets?"

"Maybe" Blake replied. "It depends on if they have room, and whether or not they want to go back".

The duo opened the door to the store, which caused a little bell to ring above their heads and alerted the blue haired shop owner to their presence.

"Oh, hey there Sphinx" she said, greeting Blake. "Are you here for business or pleasure?"

"Pleasure" Blake responded. "And it's just 'Blake' now, Aqua. I have a new job".

"Shit, was that you out there making all that racket?" Aqua asked when she noticed the two women's guns. "You better not have broken my neon sign out front".

"You know I'm a better shot than that" Blake teased.

"Good" Aqua said, relieved. "So, are you looking for something in particular?"

"Nah, I'm just here for shits and giggles" said Yang. "I hope you don't mind".

"Go on ahead" said the woman behind the register. "Just let me know if anything catches your eye".

"Hm, well let's see what you got here" Yang said, approaching a stack of books and DVDs. "Annie does Atlas, Playfaunus , Ninjas of Love 2: Ninja Sex Party, Slithering Darkness by The Citrus Principle…"

"Those last two are pretty good" interject Blake.

"Eh, I'll stick to the internet" Yang said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Let's check out the dildos".

Yang found a shelf of the plastic penises nearby and began looking through them. They came in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, but one in particular stood out to the blonde haired woman.

"Oh my god" she gasped. "Are you serious?"

The dildo she was talking about was three feet long, purple, and took up the entire top shelf of the rack it was sitting on.

"You could beat someone to death with a dick like that" Yang said with a glimmer in her eyes.

"Oh, you mean The Penetrator?" said Aqua. "That's mainly just a gag gift, but you can buy it if you want".

"Sold!" Yang said, tossing an indiscriminate amount of Lien towards the register. "Let's go try this bad boy out, Blake!"

"Sorry, Yang, but I don't like you that much" said Blake.

"No, I mean let's find some White Fang fucker and test it out on their skull" Yang said, waving the floppy dildo around like a baseball bat. "My swing could use some practice".

"Why don't you play with me, then?" a voice suddenly intoned.

Yang leapt back in surprise when she realized that there was suddenly a fourth person in the room. Neopolitan was standing just a foot away in front of the register with her trademark pink parasol over her shoulder and a smug grin on her face.

"Hey, how did you get in here kid?" Aqua asked. "I'm going to need to see some I-"

Aqua was cut off by Neo's blade slicing through her throat, slicing apart her vocal chords and leaving her to gasp helplessly as her lungs started to fill with blood and Aqua drowned in her own gore. She lay dead on the ground only a few seconds later.

"Mine might not be as large as yours, but I haven't gotten any complaints from the ladies yet" Neo said, eyeing Aqua's corpse playfully and sheathing her knife back into her parasol. "Bigger isn't always better, after all".

"Oh, so you wanna fuck with us, is that it?" Yang said defiantly to the much shorter girl. "You asked for it!"

Yang charged forward while Blake ran behind the register to see if she could somehow save her friend. Yang brought down The Penetrator as hard as she could from above, but Neopolitan parried the blow easily with her umbrella before kicking Yang directly in the gut. Yang recovered quickly and tried to swing her dildo horizontally, but Neo simply dodged out of the way like she was playing limbo.

"Come on, don't go all soft on me now" Neo said as she continuously sidestepped Yang's blows. "If I had known you were such a little girl, I would have finished you off the first time".

Desperate to land a hit, Yang started chucking whatever she could get her hands on at Neo, including smaller dildos, sex dolls, and magazines, but the teenager just gracefully pirouetted around them all without any difficulty.

"Distributing pornography to a minor? Tsk, tsk" Neo mocked as she danced. "You know that's illegal".

"Yang, get down!" Blake shouted before popping back up from behind the register and firing wildly with her sub-machine gun.

Yang was able to hit the floor fast enough, but so was Neo, so the only casualty of Blake's outburst was the store's tinted windows.

"Let's take this outside, shall we?" Neo said as she jumped out one of the broken windows.

"Yang, don't!" Blake shouted, but it was too late; Yang had already leapt outside in angry pursuit, determined to stop Neo from getting away.

"Oooh, is this your car?" Neo asked, standing next to the Lady Dragon. "It sure looks expensive".

Neo unsheathed her knife and pressed it lightly against the hood of the car.

"You wouldn't dare" Yang said intensely.

A small screech filled the air and Yang's hair caught on fire a moment later as she dashed forward.

"Oh come on, you bought that thing using our money" Neo said as she expertly dodged all of Yang's blows. "That means it's my car too".

Yang lunged forward at that remark, and all it took was a simple sidestep to cause the older woman to trip and fall to the ground. Neo then knelt down over her fallen foe and thrust her knife down onto Yang's back.

"Aaah" Yang cried out in pain as the knife bounced agonizingly off of her aura, weakening almost to the point of breaking.

"Hold it right there" Blake said threateningly as she pressed the muzzle of her pistol to the back of Neo's head. They could also see some red cars further down the street, indicating that The Saints' backup had finally arrived.

"It's over" Blake declared. "Just give up".

"Aww, why do you have to ruin my fun?" Neo whined. "Oh well, I guess it's time to go home. Enjoy my parting gifts".

Neo vanished in to thin air before Blake could pull the trigger, leaving the two older women alone on the side of the road.

"Dammit, the little brat got away!" Yang said as she picked herself back up. "At least she didn't fuck up my car too badly though. Come on, let's head back to base".

"Parting gifts…" Blake said to herself, wondering exactly what Neo meant. "Oh no!"

Blake tackled her partner to the ground before she could reach her convertible, shielding Yang with both her body and aura. The Lady Dragon then exploded into a ball of fire a moment later, along with every strip club that the two women had just spent the last two hours capturing.

"Shit!" Blake cursed as she felt the flames burn through the back of her shirt. "She planned that right from the start!"

"No!" Yang shouted when she finally realized what had happened. "My baby!"


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh my god" Ruby said in shock. "I can't believe this".

"I know, I can't believe she did this to us twice!" Weiss exclaimed.

"No, I mean how are you supposed to use this thing?" Ruby said, holding up her sister's new Penetrator. "It's thicker than my arm".

After their encounter with Neo, Blake and Yang rushed back to Beacon to tell Ruby about what had happened. However, the young crime boss was far too fixated on Yang's new sex toy to pay attention to what they had to say.

"Oh, enough about the fucking dildo!" Weiss shouted, knocking the purple penis from Ruby's hands. "We just got our asses handed to us by a little girl! This is a disaster!"

"It's not that bad" Blake interjected. "We still managed to take over the neighborhood".

"Yeah, and a hell of a lot of good that does us with a bunch of burned out clubs and dead strippers" argued Weiss. "We need to think of a way to strike back".

"I say we go to the upper east side, kick down Roman's door, and shove a boot so far up Neo's ass that she could tie the laces with her tongue" Yang said furiously.

"Calm down, Yang" Blake said steadily. "We can't just barge in without a plan. We've got to-"

"Blake" Yang grimly interrupted. "She fucked my car. My child, my best friend! We can't let this go unavenged, not after all we've been through together!"

"Didn't you just buy that thing yesterday?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Your point?" Yang asked back.

"Enough!" Weiss yelled, trying to bring order to the chaotic meeting room. "As much as I hate to admit it, Blake is right. The White Fang are probably expecting us to act brashly, so we can't afford to launch an all-out assault. We'd be walking straight into a trap".

"You can't let Neo get to you, Yang" Blake said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You saw what that did during the fight. We'll have our chance to get back eventually".

"Oh, so what are we supposed to do then?" Yang asked angrily. "Just sit on our asses and watch TV?"

* * *

"I was joking".

Yang was currently sitting in between Weiss and Blake on the couch in Ruby's room, with The Saint's pitifully small TV sitting on a box about a foot away.

"Aw, come on!" Ruby said as she took a seat in between Yang and Weiss with a bowl of caramel corn in her hands. "It'll be just like old times, with dad! Remember when we both used to sit on his lap and watch movies together? And how if things got too scary, you'd hide under his coat until it was over?"

"N-no, of course not" Yang said, blushing.

"What, are you telling me that badass Yang Xiao Long used to be…cute?" Blake asked teasingly.

"No way!" Yang said, punching the air in front of her. "I was kicking ass right out of the womb!"

"If you say so" Blake said, rolling her eyes. "So, what do you guys want to watch?"

"Cartoons!" squealed Ruby.

"A horror movie! Lots of guts!" said Yang.

"The Documentary Channel" ordered Weiss.

"Uh, how about we do a compromise?" Blake said, changing the channel with a remote control. "Let's watch the news. They have commentary like a documentary, are about as realistic as a cartoon, and it's gorier than even the scariest horror movie. Sound fair?"

There was a mumbled agreement among the other three girls before they all quieted down to watch the TV.

"Today, we have a special guest!" a male news anchor bombastically announced. "World famous movie star, Jaune Arc, has joined me in the studio to discuss his upcoming movie, Dark Lyte. Thank you for joining us, Jaune".

"No Tom, thank you!" said the man sitting across from the anchorman with his feet up on the news desk. He had short blond hair, dark sunglasses, a grey leather jacket, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

"Uh, it's Frank" the news anchor corrected.

"I knew that" Jaune lied.

"So, what's this new movie going to be about?" said Frank.

"I'm glad you asked" Jaune said, sitting up. "Dark Lyte is the story of a tortured and handsome young millionaire named Darren Light, who lives in a city infested by crime. When some gangsters kill his girlfriend, he makes a pact with a demon to get revenge, and becomes the vampire vigilante Dark Lyte! It's just him, his vampire superpowers, his martial arts training, and his millions of Lien against the world".

"Fascinating" replied Frank. "You know, the latest trailer for Dark Lyte has caused quite a bit of controversy for showing a scene of him fighting some gangsters in the middle of the day. If Dark Lyte really is a vampire, wouldn't that have killed him?"

"The confusion is understandable, but you see, Dark Lyte isn't like other vampires" Jaune explained like he was talking to a child. "He's not hurt by sunlight, garlic, holy water, or any other traditional vampire weaknesses. He also doesn't have to drink blood, still has his soul, and doesn't hurt innocent people".

"That doesn't sound much like a vampire at all" Frank pointed out.

"That's what makes Dark Lyte such a great character!" said Jaune. "He's an outcast from both human and vampire society who no one understands. But, if they just looked past his sharp fangs and murderous rampages, they'd all see he really had a heart of gold".

"You know, Vale has actually been undergoing a bit of a crime spree as of late" Frank said, changing the subject. "It's too bad Dark Lyte isn't real, huh? Captain Pyrrha could use all the help she could get".

"Yeah, well, I'd be happy to give Ms. Nikos my number anyways" Jaune said smoothly. "Just in case she ever has an…emergency".

"Wow, this is boring" Yang said as the two men on screen burst into laughter. "Can we just watch cartoons instead?"

"Yay!" Ruby shouted through a mouthful of caramel corn.

"I'm game" Blake said, changing the channel.

"Cartoons? Really?" Weiss asked. "What, are we five years old or something?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that cartoons are really sophisticated and complex these days" Ruby argued. "You shouldn't write it off just because of the way it looks".

The show onscreen featured a poorly animated cartoon cat getting his head chopped off by a mouse.

"Sophisticated. Right" Weiss said dryly. "I'll be in my room if you need me".

* * *

That night, Roman sat on his desk with a cigar in one hand and his cell phone in the other. He listened intently to the voice on the other end as he lightly tapped his cigar into an ash tray on his desk.

"Uhuh. Really? Just sitting there?" Roman asked, concerned. "They haven't even tried to attack? Augh, fine".

Roman hung up and took in a big breath from his cigar to try and calm his nerves.

"Great, the one fucking time I actually want The Saints to attack, and they don't! They can't do anything right!" he said, throwing up his hands. "Neo isn't going to be happy about this".

Torchwick picked his phone back up dialed the young assassin's number, and she answered a few moments later.

"Oh, Torchwick! Just the man I wanted to hear from. I was getting so bored" Neo said over a chorus of groans in the background. "Your boys make very poor toys. They're far too breakable. So, where are they hitting us?"

"Sorry, but it turns out The Saints have a few more brain cells than I thought" Roman said apologetically. "They're staying put".

"Awww" Neo whined on the other end. "Well then, why don't we just take the party to them? I go out to one of their neighborhoods, mingle a little, show off my killer dance moves, and then The Saints will come running".

"Hmm" Roman mumbled, thinking it over. "Actually, we can use this to our advantage. With The Saints running scared, I can finally bring in a little favor someone over in Atlas owes me, and you're going to make sure it gets to my office".

"Guard duty? Seriously?" Neo asked, annoyed. "This better be good, Roman. What is it?"

"It's a toy so tough, that not even you could break it" said Torchwick. "Not that you should take that as a challenge".

"Sorry, didn't catch that last part" Neo said before quickly hanging up.

"She hung up on me" Roman said, incredulous. "That little snot! Oh well…Lieutenant, send Neo an email about where…"

Roman quickly realized he was talking to an armoire.

"Oh yeah" said Roman as he booted up his computer. "I really should get a new secretary".

* * *

A few days later and The Saints still hadn't come up with plan to attack the White Fang, so Ruby and her friends were each trying their best to pass the time. Weiss was busy learning how to fence with her right hand, Ruby was trying to teach herself card tricks, Yang was lifting weights, and Blake was, as always, busy on her computer.

But Blake was not busy playing video games or reading fanfiction today. Right now, she was tirelessly trying to hack into Roman Torchwick's various online accounts. His bank account was sealed tight, unfortunately, but she was having better luck with his email account.

"Gotcha" Blake said under her breath as she typed furiously away at her laptop. She began reading through as many emails as she could, and one in particular caught her eye.

"Hey Ruby, come look at this" Blake said, picking up her laptop and walking to where Ruby was sitting with her cards.

"Blake! Perfect timing!" Ruby said when she saw her lieutenant approaching. "Watch this!"

Ruby took the deck of playing cards she was holding and started shuffling them at the speed of sound, the cards a blur as she tossed them through the air, behind her back, and under her legs in an extraordinary show of dexterity and skill. When she was done, she took a card off the top of the deck and showed it Blake.

"Is this your card?" Ruby asked.

"Uh…you need to give me a card before you ask that question" Blake pointed out.

"Oh, right!" Ruby said, lightly slapping herself on the head before handing the card over to Blake. "Now is that your card?"

"…yes, Ruby" Blake said dryly. "This is now my card".

"Yay! I did it!" the young crime boss said excitedly.

"Congratulations" Blake said, tossing the card aside. "Anyways, I hacked into Roman's emails and found something you might want to know about. The White Fang are going to be receiving a cargo ship from Atlas in a few days, no doubt loaded with drugs and weapons for them to use and sell".

"So?" Ruby asked. "They do that every day. What's the big deal?"

"The 'big deal' is that this email is addressed to Neopolitan, and it says that she has to guard a 'special' piece of cargo with her life" Blake explained.

"Wait, what?" Yang said nearby, dropping her weights to the floor. "Then let's load up our boys and kick some White Fang tail! Eye for an eye, boat for a car".

"I don't think that's a very good idea" Blake told Yang. "They'd see us coming a mile away, and I doubt CRDL would appreciate us driving a crew straight through their territory. But a small team of, say, two people could easily sneak on board and take whatever it is Neo is guarding".

"Even better!" Yang said eagerly. "Fewer people to hog the fun! When does it get here?"

"In three days" said Blake.

"Aww" Ruby and Yang groaned in unison.

* * *

It was a misty evening at the industrial district docks as the White Fang's cargo ship started to wade into port. The ship was quite large, over a thousand feet in length, and had orange cargo crates stacked dozens of meters high on the decks. Most of them were marked for delivery to various companies around Vale, but the dozens of White Fang guards patrolling the area made it clear who the real recipients were.

Yang eyed the entrance the ship carefully from behind a nearby shipping crate, with Ruby standing nearby. They hadn't started unloading cargo quite yet, so they still had time to sneak aboard without being noticed. The only thing standing in their way was one White Fang member patrolling in front of the ramp that lead onto the ship.

"Okay, Ruby, there's just one guy" Yang whispered to her sister. "Why don't you give him the old 'One Two'?"

"On it!" Ruby said back.

Ruby swiftly ran up behind the Faunus man and punched him in the head, knocking him down onto the concrete. Then, she delivered a swift kick to the man's testicles, crushing them with an audible crunch with the toe of her combat boot.

"Augh, Ruby" Yang quietly groaned. "You did it wrong again! You're supposed to kick him in the balls, and then punch him in the head!"

"Sorry, I always get it mixed up" Ruby said, embarrassed. "I mean, he has 'one' head and 'two' balls…er, had two balls, so I just did it in that order".

"Never start with the head, Ruby" Yang scolded. "Otherwise he won't feel it when you kick crack his nuts".

"Well, I doubt it's going to feel very good when he wakes up" Ruby pointed out hopefully.

Yang kneelt down and checked the man's pulse.

"Nah, he won't be feeling anything; he's dead" whispered Yang. "Just toss him in the water before someone notices".

Ruby did just that and the two quietly made their way onto the cargo ship, trying their best not to be spotted.

"Now remember, Blake said whatever the big cargo is in a yellow container in the back of the ship" Yang explained. "You go take or blow up whatever its, and I'll go into the hold and create a distraction. That little bitch is going to get what's coming to her".

"Okay, but are you sure you can take her on all by yourself?" Ruby asked.

"Don't worry about it" Yang said casually as she cracked her neck. "She may be tough, but I'm tougher".

The two then split ways, with Ruby sneaking off towards the back of the ship while Yang made her way towards the crew quarters.

"Yellow, yellow, yellow…" Ruby said as she ran swiftly between rows of cargo containers. "Bingo!"

Ruby found the crate she was looking for and sprinted towards it, ripping open the door like it a brightly wrapped birthday present. Unfortunately, what she found inside was a lot less cuddly than a corgi puppy.

"Hello there, Red" Neo said, stepping out from the cargo container. "I had a feeling you'd show up".

* * *

"So, uh, do those things make it hard to eat?" a White Fang guard asked another, the latter of the two having small elephant tusks popping out from underneath his mask.

"A little" the second Faunus admitted. "But it was even worse when I had brace-"

He was cut off by a sharp knock at the door, which they both went to investigate.

"Who's there?" the first called out.

Their answer came in the form of the steel door suddenly bursting from its hinges and slamming them into the wall behind them and killing them both instantly.

"Just a lonely woman, hoping to find a little wild fun" Yang said, walking over to and picking up one of the men's shotguns. "I hope you sailors know how to keep a girl entertained".

Two other guards who heard the crash rushed into the room, but were promptly met by Yang blasting them to pieces with her shotgun. The sound of her gunshots let everyone else on board know where she was, however, and an alarm quickly started blaring.

"Attention!" a voice said over the loudspeakers. "Someone is trying to break into the bridge! Alert! Alert!"

"That's right, the more the merrier!" Yang said happily as she charged through the halls, shooting anyone who stood in her way. "You'd be surprised as to how many guys I can take on at once".

Yang wasn't disappointed as steams of White Fang charged at her from the upper and lower decks of the ship, trying desperately to stop her from reaching the bridge above. But the blonde haired woman took all of their shots in stride as she slowly made her way through the upper decks of the ship, leaving a trail of blood and gore in her wake.

One unfortunate Faunus man who ran out of ammo tried to charge the former Huntress with a baseball bat he kept in his room, but she just caught the hunk of wood mid-swing.

"Oh, hey, is this thing signed?" she asked, ripping the bat from his hands. "I might just have to keep this".

Yang then struck the man across the side of the head with the bat, sending blood and splinters everywhere as he dropped lifeless to the floor.

"Shit, look what you did" she said to the Faunus man's corpse. "You ruined the signature! Now it's worthless".

Switching to a discarded sub-machine gun, Yang finally made her way to the bridge and took a deep breath outside the door.

"Payback time" she whispered to herself before kicking down the door.

Five White Fang members, including the captain of the ship, were waiting inside with their guns trained on the door. They opened fire as soon as they saw it open but Yang was able roll under the bullets take out the two goons on her right. The two on her left took aim, but Yang was quick enough to grab the captain in front of her and take the man hostage.

"Wait, don't shoot!" the captain pleaded, which caused the remaining two men to hesitate just long enough for Yang to shoot them both in the head, leaving her alone with the captain. That was, until the front windows of the bridge were suddenly shot out.

"Shit!" Yang cursed, hitting the deck with her hostage in tow. "Okay asshole, I'm only going to ask this question once; where is Neo?"

"The girl?" he asked with Yang's gun pressed against his forehead. "Last I saw, she was inspecting the crates!"

"Oh no, Ruby!" Yang said in shock. "I've got to get to her!"

"Does that mean you won't shoot me?" said the captain, a glimmer of hope in his voice.

"Sure; you're free to go" said Yang. She then stood up and tossed the man out the broken windows and onto the cargo crates several stories below.

"I'm coming, Ruby!" she thought to herself as she ran back downstairs.

* * *

"H-hey there" Ruby said nervously she and Neopolitan circled each other slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just a little extra security to make sure Roman's package gets here in one piece" she nonchalantly explained while twirling her parasol. "Vale is full of nasty criminals, after all. You can never be too careful".

"Yeah, about that" said Ruby, her handgun still tentatively pointing towards the smaller girl. "Aren't you a little young to be in a gang? Maybe you should just go home, eat some snacks, start a topiary garden…"

"My, aren't you the pot calling the kettle black" Neo said back playfully. "Sorry, but I wouldn't give this job up for anything in the world".

The ship's alarm suddenly started going off, which Ruby took as her chance to open fire on Neo. The bullet hit the multicolored assassin square in her shoulder, but the rest of the shots were blocked as Neo raised her umbrella.

"Resourceful! I like that" she said, casually wiping the Dust off her shoulder as Ruby continued firing. "Maybe you'll actually be a challenge, unlike your sister".

Ruby tried to get the jump on the brown and pink girl by activating her semblance and running around her, but Neo was able to block Ruby's punch with her umbrella.

"Nice try" Neo said, unsheathing her knife. "But you'll have to do a lot better than that!"

Neo then unleashed a flurry of knife jabs towards Ruby, intending to end the young crime boss once and for all. Ruby was able to dodge all of the jabs, but couldn't find an opening to strike back.

"Uh, you wouldn't happen to know where that 'package' is, would you?" Ruby asked awkwardly as she continued to evade Neo's attacks. "I kinda told my sister I'd find it as soon as I could".

"Oh, I moved that somewhere else" Neo said, not letting up at all. "But feel free to try and find it. I have all the time in the world".

Neo suddenly raised her leg and kicked Ruby in the stomach, sending the red haired woman flying into a cargo container behind her and knocking the wind out of her lungs. Ruby then felt a sharp sting on the left side of her neck as Neo pressed her knife hard against her through, cutting through Ruby's aura just enough to start drawing blood.

"Augh!" Ruby cried as she mustered up the strength to push Neo away, putting the younger girl slightly off balance. Seizing her chance, Ruby grabbed Neo by the arm and tossed her into the door of a nearby shipping container, but Neo recovered before she even hit the crate and managed to land gracefully on top of it like that was her plan all along.

"Oh, that's so cool!" Ruby said, overcoming her fear and clapping her hands in awe. "How did you do that?

"You just learn to go with the flow after a while" Neo said as she jumped back down to Ruby's level. "You need to in this city".

Neo abruptly leapt forward and tried to stab Ruby in the side. The young crime boss caught the assassin's arm with her hands, but Neo followed up the attack with a knee directly to Ruby's stomach, knocking the wind out of Ruby yet again. Neo then proceeded to use her umbrella with the force of a mace, knocking Ruby around like a sack of meat as the tiny girl beat the Saint towards the edge of the boat.

"Bon voyage, Ruby" Neo said as she blew the red hooded girl a goodbye kiss. This was the last thing Ruby saw before she blacked out and fell back over the railing of the boat behind her.

"Ruby!" Yang called as she dashed towards where Ruby fell. She was about to jump in after her sister when Neopolitan suddenly appeared right next to her, scaring Yang half to death.

"I wouldn't worry about her" Neo said teasingly. "I doubt she even lived to hit the water, and besides, wouldn't you rather play with me instead?"

Yang stood there for about a second before finally coming to a decision.

"This isn't over" Yang hissed before diving into the water after Ruby, White Fang soldiers firing at her as she fell.

"Oh well, that was fun while it lasted" Neo said as her men continued firing into the water where Yang had disappeared into the water. "I better bring Roman his new toy before he throws a temper tantrum, though".

* * *

Yang found Ruby's body and dragged her under a nearby pier, managing to avoid the White Fang's gaze under the cover of fog and darkness. With the gangsters assuming they were both dead, Yang was safe to check to make sure that Ruby was okay. Ruby's pulse confirmed that she was still alive, but she wasn't breathing at all.

"Oh no you don't" Yang said angrily before opening Ruby's mouth.

Yang took as deep a breath as she could before blowing air into Ruby's lungs, hoping beyond hope that she could somehow save her sister.

"You can't go too" Yang said as she switched to compressing Ruby's chest. "I've lost everyone else, and I'm not losing you too!"

Yang blew two more breaths into Ruby's mouth, but she still refused to wake up.

"Don't fucking do this to me!" Yang cursed. "If you die, I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Yang punctuated her statement by hitting Ruby hard on the chest, which caused the girl suddenly sit up and start coughing up seawater.

"Ruby!" Yang said, relieved. "Are you alright?"

"Yang…" Ruby said, still sputtering water. "That…didn't make any sense".

"Fuck you, cunt, you almost drowned" she said, punching Ruby in the shoulder. "Let's get you home, alright?"

"What about the boat?" Ruby said, pointing towards the vague silhouette of the White Fang's boat in the distance. "I was really hoping we could blow it up".

"Don't worry, we'll blow up plenty of those bastards soon enough" Yang said as she picked her sister up off the rocks and sand. "You can count on it".

* * *

"I must say, Neo, you really outdid yourself this time" Roman said as he watched his men unload the shipment of illegal goods into the First Bank of Vale. "Everything is intact, and you even managed to kill the ringleader of those annoying little girl scouts. Nicely done".

"All in a day's work" Neo said as she gave her boss a small curtsy. "They'll be out for blood now though, I hope you realize that".

"Ah, but that's exactly what I'm counting on!" Roman said, gripping his cane triumphantly. "You see, Neo, sometimes the best offense is a good defense, and if they blow their load in one assault we can just roll back into whatever territory we've lost".

"And what makes you so sure we'll win this fight?" Neo asked. "I like you and all, but I'd rather not go the way of the Grimm because of one of your harebrained schemes".

"Don't worry, that 'special cargo' you just delivered will see to that" Roman said, swinging his cane. "What you just delivered is the ultimate weed killer, the...wait, hold on, I need to take this call. Yes?"

"What the fuck, Torchwick?" a furious voice said through the phone. "We had a deal".

"What?" Roman gasped in false shock. "I assure you, Mr. Winchester, that I have no idea what you are talking about".

"The docks" Cardin Winchester responded. "That was our port! You owe us ten thousand Lien for that, you bastard!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, the captain must have just gotten lost" Roman said apologetically. "It won't happen again, I assure you".

"You'll pay for this, you asshole!" Cardin shouted over the phone.

"And we will" Roman said calmingly. "Eventually. It's a lot of paperwork though, so you should check back in a few months. Goodnight!"

Torchwick turned off his phone and immediately let out a long, annoyed groan.

"He is definitely next to go".


	12. Chapter 12

"So…" Blake said carefully as she sat across from Weiss at the table in Ruby's room. "Who's it gonna be?"

"Why, me of course" Weiss said grandly. "I am the most senior member of the gang, after all, and I have the most leadership experience. But don't worry; you can still be my right hand, Blake".

"Funny, it looks like you could use a left hand" Blake said, staring at Weiss's cast.

"Ha, ha, very funny" Weiss replied sarcastically. "I can still bitch slap you with this, you know".

"Well, as much as I'd love to take orders from a princess, I doubt it would be a very long reign" said Blake.

"And why would that be?" Weiss asked, eying Blake accusingly.

"You're a Schnee, Weiss" Blake explained. "A lot of Faunus still hold a grudge against your family for what the Schnee Dust Company did to Faunus workers, and almost all of the territories we control are Faunus neighborhoods. If you took over, then we'd essentially be giving the White Fang those areas, and our asses, on a silver platter".

"Shit" Weiss cursed as she realized Blake was right. "So what, you think you'd be able to do any better than I could?"

"Of course" Blake said, adjusting her glasses. "I practically ran the gang from my laptop anyways. I controlled the finances, the organization, the recruitment…"

"Ha!" Weiss laughed. "As if The Saints would let a White Fang tell them what to do! We'd lose almost our entire gang if you took over! We'd be sitting ducks!"

"True, but they don't know about that yet" Blake said, gesturing towards her bow. "And they won't ever have to".

"Hmm…" Weiss mumbled, deep in thought. "But if someone were to let it slip that you are a Faunus and an ex-White Fang…then I suppose you'd have to give up the position".

"Oh, no you don't" Blake said, reaching for her handgun. "I won't let you ruin everything we've worked for".

"Oh, so the kitty has claws?" Weiss said mockingly. "Bring it! I don't need two hands to take care of a little runt like you".

"Hold it right there" Yang said as she walked into the room, with Ruby clinging to her shoulder. "You know you're not supposed to start a firefight without me".

"Ruby!" Weiss said excitedly, dashing to her boss's side. "You're alive! What happened out there?"

"Oh, you know…" Ruby said, in between coughs and gasps. "I just wanted to take a quick dip in the bay. It's really refreshing! What's been going on here?"

"Oh, nothing" Blake said while averting her eyes. "Just two girls, hanging out together, bonding over…uh…guns".

"Oh yeah, totally" Weiss said, backing Blake up. "I was just admiring how well polished Blake's pistol is, nothing else".

"That's funny, 'cause it sounded like you two were fighting over who'd lead The Saints after me and my sister kicked the can" said Yang.

Weiss and Blake tried desperately to come up with another excuse, but couldn't think of anything. Giving up, Weiss held her head in shame while Blake tried to apologize as best as she could.

"I'm sorry, we didn't know" said Blake. "No one had seen or heard from you for hours, and the White Fang have been bragging about killing you guys all night. We just assumed it was true".

"That just goes to show; never bet against Yang Xiao Long" Yang said cockily.

"That's still no excuse for fighting!" Ruby said determinedly as she tried her best to stand up on her own. "We're all friends here, remember? Compadres, sisters in arms, Saints! Now apologize, or no new guns for a week!"

"We're sorry" Blake and Weiss moaned in unison.

"Not to me, to each other!" ordered the young crime boss.

The two older women painfully turned towards each other and stared for a few moments before Blake finally made the first move.

"I'm sorry I almost blew your brains out all over the floor" Blake said dryly.

"And I'm sorry I almost turned the whole gang against you" Weiss said with equal enthusiasm.

"Good job" Ruby said, immensely proud of her work. "Now hug and make up".

Blake and Weiss came together for an awkward hug that lasted for a few seconds before Ruby suddenly tackled them both with a monster hug of her own.

"That's the spirit!" Ruby said cheerfully as she continued squeezing the two blushing women in her embrace. "Gang hug time, Yang!"

"You got it" Yang said, walking over to the threesome and picking them up off the ground in her arms.

"Can't…breathe!" Weiss gasped from within Yang's tight grip.

Fortunately for her, Yang soon decided to put them back down and the four could finally return to business.

"So, I'm guessing you weren't able to intercept Roman's package" Blake said.

"Nope" Ruby replied, her shoulders slumping. "I played with Neo instead, but her games weren't very fun. I'm sorry I made you guys worry for nothing…"

"Actually, you being dead might actually be a good thing" Blake said, causing Ruby to tilt her head in confusion.

"But being dead is so boring!" Ruby whined. "All you do is lie on your back all day and smell really bad, like a boring vacation cruise with no deodorant".

"She means that now that the White Fang think you're dead, they won't be expecting you" Weiss explained. "Which means you get to be our secret weapon".

"I get to be a weapon?" Ruby gasped. "It's a dream come true!"

"So you've got a plan?" Yang asked.

"I think so…" Blake said, digging out her phone and bringing up the First Bank of Vale's website. "Roman might be the murderous, pimping, drug dealing son of a bitch we all know and love, but officially he's one of the most respected businessmen in Vale".

Blake turned her phone and showed her friends the bank's website, which featured a picture of a smiling Roman Torchwick standing in a lovely open meadow and surrounded by groups of smiling children and adorable puppies.

"Seriously?" Yang asked in disbelief.

"You can get away with almost anything with good publicity" Weiss said. "You should have seen my father's PR department".

"Anyways, he's going to be holding a big 'charity' ball at the bank in next Friday night with the richest entrepreneurs in Vale. Naturally, most of the money donated will go towards the lavish catering" Blake explained. "That's where you two come in. If you two can sneak in with the catering staff, Weiss and I can create a distraction outside to draw out Neo and the guards, and give you the perfect opportunity to take Roman out for good".

"And don't worry, he shouldn't be much of a challenge" intoned Weiss. "He's just some asshole in a stupid hat and no semblance. Not even you two could screw this up".

"Aww" Ruby whined. "I was hoping for a super epic boss fight with explosions, sword fights, giant robots…"

"Well, hate to break it to you Red, but life isn't like a video game" Weiss said. "Sometimes you just shoot the bad guy in the head and move on".

"Do we at least get to rob the bank while we're there?" Yang asked.

"Of course" replied Blake.

"Yay!" Ruby said, clapping her hands. "I'll start getting my guns ready now!"

"Hold on, Ruby" Blake said, grabbing her boss's arm. "They might not be looking for you two, but security will still be tight. They'll have metal detectors everywhere, so there will be no way you can sneak in a gun without them noticing".

"Oh, is that all?" said Yang. "Don't worry, I've got something they'll never see coming".

"That's good, but to keep the element of surprise, you're both going to have lay low for the next week" Blake explained. "Sorry about that".

"Don't worry about it" Ruby said merrily. "Murder is a lot like love; absence just makes the heart grow fonder".

* * *

"Welcome, gentlemen, welcome!" Roman said as he enthusiastically shook the hands of several men and women in expensive looking business suits. They were all gathered in a luxurious ballroom located on the thirteenth floor of Roman's skyscraper in the northeast commercial district, and it was extravagantly well decorated. Tables were adorned with the finest white silk tablecloths, the marble dance floors were polished to a shine, the light grey paint on the walls didn't have a single scratch on it, the bar was filled with a selection of luxury drinks, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and it all centered around a diamond statue of a woman holding a spear in the center of it.

"I'm so glad you could all make it to the first annual 'Save the Grimm' charity ball" Roman added with as much fake zeal as he could muster.

"Greetings Mr. Worthington, Mr. Anderez, Mrs. Jun, Mr…eh, I'm sorry, but your name appears to slip my mind. Who are you?" Torchwick said, stopping at a tall man with light grey hair, dark circular reading glasses, and wearing a dark green suit.

"Ozpin, of the Oz Corporation" the man replied, shaking Torchwick's hand. "Pleased to meet you".

"Oz Corporation?" Roman said, confused. "Never heard of you".

"Ah yes, I have been hearing those words a lot here in Vale" Ozpin said affably. "But our clothing line has been doing quite well in Mistral".

"How well?" Roman asked suspiciously.

"Well enough for us to donate a very generous sum to your charitable foundation" Ozpin replied knowingly.

"Ozpin, yes, of course!" Torchwick said, his voice suddenly shifting to a more pleasant tone. "How could I forget one of my closest acquaintances. Come, have a drink, or a taste of our exquisite chocolate fount-"

Roman looked towards where he was pointing his cane and saw nothing but an empty piece of floor.

"Marie!" Roman shouted to a maid at the top of his lungs. "Where are fucking chocolate fountains!?"

"I'm sorry sir!" the woman replied pleadingly "The truck seems to be running a little bit late".

"Well, make sure it gets here soon, or it's your ass!" he shouted. "Dreadfully sorry for the inconvenience, this usually doesn't happen".

"Oh no, I understand completely" Ozpin said sympathetically. "It is so hard to find good help these days".

* * *

"Ruby! Stop eating out of the fountain!" Yang shouted as she hid two bloody bodies in a nearby dumpster. "It's gross!"

The two sisters were currently behind the catering company the White Fang ordered from, and had killed and stole the uniforms off of the two unfortunate workers who were in the loading up the last truck heading over to Torchwick's headquarters.

"Aww, come on!" Ruby said in between shoving mouthfuls of melted chocolate in her mouth. "They're not going to eat all of it, and I can't let it all go to waste!"

"Okay, but don't blame me when you turn into a massive zit tomorrow morning" Yang warned.

"Augh, fine" Ruby said, turning the fountain off and wiping the chocolate on her hands onto her new black pants and black shirt. "Let's go".

The two finished loading up Roman's two chocolate fountains into the back of the truck and got inside the cabin, with Yang in the driver's seat.

"We're on our way over now" Yang said into her cell phone as she started the truck.

"Good" Weiss replied on the other end. "We'll start the attack as soon as we know you're inside".

"And remember; no killing each other!" Ruby yelled from the passenger seat.

"We promise" Weiss and Yang groaned together before Yang finally turned off her phone and the two took off down the streets of Vale.

"You know, Ruby, ever since last week, I've been thinking" Yang said as she navigated the delivery truck through traffic. "Are you sure you still want to go through with this whole 'gang' thing?"

"Of course!" Ruby responded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ruby, you almost died last week" Yang pointed out grimly.

"So?" Ruby replied. "I'm fine now".

"Yeah, but for how long?" asked Yang. "Being a gangster is fun and all, but it's definitely going to land us an early grave. Maybe…maybe we can still find a way out of this city, and start a new life in the country, just the two of us. What do you say?"

"Well, is going early really so bad?" Ruby asked back. "We're all gonna die eventually, and how would you rather go out; biting the dust, or biting the Dust?"

"Yeah…" Yang replied. "It would be nice to croak before my tits started to sag, but it's not me I'm worried about. Are you sure this is what you want to do for the rest of your life?"

"Absitively posilutley" Ruby said, wiping some more chocolate from her lips. "I haven't been more sure of anything in my entire life!"

"If you say so" Yang said doubtfully. "Just try to be careful out there, okay? Now come on; we're here".

The two sisters exited the truck and started carrying their two chocolate fountains into the building. They passed an army of armed guards on the way inside, but thankfully none of them recognized them or found anything unusual with their handheld metal detectors.

"Okay, so far so good" Yang said once the two were safely in the elevator heading upstairs. "Let's just hope these disguises work on Roman too".

"Mmmhmmm" Ruby said, stuffing another handful of chocolate into her mouth.

"Ruby, what are you doing?!" Yang gasped once she saw what Ruby had done. "We'll get kicked out!"

"Oh, just relax Yang" Ruby said, wiping her hands on Yang's black pants. "Live a little!"

"Ew!" Yang whined. "Keep your hands to your-"

"There you are!" Marie said as soon as the elevator doors opened. "Where have you been? Whatever, just take them out to…oh my god, have you two been eating the chocolate?"

"That's right!" Ruby gleefully announced before Yang could say anything in their defense. "It tastes great too!"

"Oh no, we can't let Roman see you like this!" the maid said, clearly panicking. "Just…go to the kitchen and help out there. Just don't let Torchwick see you!"

"Can do!" Ruby said, grabbing her sister by the hand and heading towards a nearby door labeled 'kitchen'.

"You planned this all along, didn't you?" Yang asked with a knowing smile.

Ruby merely winked in response before heading off to go wash some dishes.

* * *

Weiss and Blake both sat inside a red car in alleyway as they awaited word from their boss to begin the attack. They had Saints hidden up and down the streets in front of the bank, but until then, they were just alone in their car fiddling with their guns.

"So…" Blake said awkwardly. "Read any good books lately?"

"Not really" Weiss said. "I've been pretty busy on the job lately, even with my broken arm. You can't exactly take a sick day in the middle of a gang war, can you?"

"True" Blake admitted before going silent yet again.

Finally, Weiss's phone started buzzing on the dashboard of the car, and Blake eagerly answered it. Yang had sent them a text message saying 'Its B00M tiem ;)'.

"That's our cue" Blake said, handing Weiss her phone. The two then went to the trunk of the car and opened it, revealing a slew of different guns hidden inside.

"Think you'll be okay out there?" Blake asked as she loaded an assault rifle.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about me" Weiss said as she grabbed the RPG Ruby had given her with one hand. "Just stay out of my way".

Weiss stepped out from the alleyway and took aim at the just recently reconstructed entrance to the bank. Weiss pulled the trigger and hit her mark, blowing up the glass doors and setting off all of the alarms inside, but the recoil was too much for her with only one hand, and she fell straight onto her back as a result.

"Are you sure about that?" Blake said, looking down at her fallen comrade.

"Oh, shut up" Weiss said as she tried to get back on her feet with dignity.

* * *

The explosion out front was heard all the way in the ballroom of the skyscraper, and caused several of the businessmen and women to start looking around with panicked looks on their faces. Torchwick, however, couldn't look calmer.

"About time they made their move" Roman thought to himself as he casually looked down on the chaos breaking out down below, silver cane still at his side.

"What's going on, Torchwick?" one of Roman's guests asked behind him.

"Oh, nothing" Roman replied playfully. "Just some street punks outside, nothing you need to worry about. My security is the best in the world, so they'll take care of it in no time at all".

Most of the White Fang guards in the room started making their way towards the elevators and stairways outside the ballroom, leaving only eight of them behind with Torchwick.

"Now's our chance!" Yang whispered as she peaked out the kitchen door. "I'll get into position, you see if you can find a gun somewhere".

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Ruby replied.

* * *

Outside, alarms continued to blare as The Saints descended upon the bank. Men and women dressed in red were suddenly everywhere along the streets, peppering fire into the skyscraper as civilians tried desperately to run to cover.

Blake was leading the charge into the building while Weiss was handling White Fang reinforcements from outside, and there seemed to be no end to the Faunus gangsters from either direction.

"Please, just let us go home!" a woman called out to Weiss as she huddled in a car with her daughter.

"Oh, stop whining!" Weiss said as she continued to use the car as cover as she fired at the White Fang. In spite of the annoying civilians, Weiss was actually quite pleased with the way the battle was going. The Saints hadn't been overwhelmed yet, and things were going much better than the last time they attacked the bank. That was, until a certain police osprey suddenly started hovering overhead.

"What are you doing?" Pyrrha's copilot shouted at the police captain. "You heard the mayor, we're not supposed to interfere!"

"There are innocent people down there! I can't just do nothing!" Pyrrha replied as she reached for the radio. "This is Pyrrha! Bring me osprey backup!"

After making her announcement, Captain Pyrrha grabbed an assault rifle from the back of the osprey jumped down behind an unsuspecting Saint. Pyrrha knocked the man out cold with the butt of her gun before taking aim at whatever gangsters she could see, most of whom were Saints.

"Shit" Weiss cursed. "Blake, we've got a situation back here!"

Blake turned around and saw the policewoman tearing her way through The Saints as she tried to stop the fighting long enough to get the civilians to safety.

"I'm on it!" Blake called, leaving the Roman's skyscraper to her crew.

Blake managed to get a few shots off at the red haired woman, but Pyrrha quickly spotted her and used her magnetic semblance to slam Blake's rifle right into the gangster's face. This was enough to daze the black haired woman long enough for Pyrrha to land several shots into Blake's right shoulder, knocking her over. Blake was not about to give up, however.

Rising from the ground, Blake charged towards Pyrrha without a gun. The policewoman hesitated to shoot someone who wasn't armed, but it turned out she didn't need to as the Blake dissolved to dust right before she reached the police chief.

Before Pyrrha could realize what had just happened, Blake popped up behind her and delivered a kick directly to the back of the officer's right knee, hoping to knock her to the ground. However, Pyrrha quickly recovered, and slammed her gun into Blake's side, separating the two before Pyrrha hit the ground.

Pyrrha got back up and started firing towards Blake, but the Faunus woman was quicker and ducked under the bullets, delivering a swift punch the center of Pyrrha's chest. This knocked the wind out of the policewoman and the gun from her hands, but she countered by grabbing onto Blake's arm and tossing her through the window of a nearby car parked in the middle of the street.

"My car!" cried out the man who was hiding underneath it.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha called out before she went to pick up her dropped assault rifle.

Blake managed to duck get out of and duck behind the car before Pyrrha opened fire again, causing the bullets to start tearing up the side of the car.

"Hey! Stop that!" the man under the car called out again.

"Sorry" Pyrrha said in between bursts. "I'm trying to save you".

"Yeah, well save my fucking car, lady! My insurance won't cover this!" he shouted angrily.

Weiss wasn't too far away, but she was dealing with the endless amounts of White Fang pouring down the streets to help Blake.

"Well, at least it can't get any worse" Blake said dejectedly.

It was at that moment that Pyrrha's backup finally arrived in the air, completely surrounding Torchwick's skyscraper and the gangsters battling out front.

"Attention! This is the police!" a voice said over a loudspeaker from one of the many ospreys now hovering overhead. "Put your hands in the air, or we will open fire!"

"Shit!" Weiss cursed. "We better give up".

But before Weiss could rise and put her one good hand in the air, an explosion suddenly rocked the nearest Osprey, and caused it to crash directly into the streets.

"What in the world?" Blake asked.

Blake looked up from her hiding place and saw a man with a spiky green Mohawk hanging out the side of a blue car with a rocket launcher in his hands and a fleet of similar blue cars following behind him. Their gunfire started immediately decimating any cop or White Fang that got in their way, but the remaining Saints were left untouched.

"Oh no" Pyrrha said to herself as she saw all of her ospreys turn and run away from the incoming gangsters. "Don't just leave me here!"

"Don't worry ladies, CRDL is here to kick ass and take names" the green haired man said as he exited the car and helped Blake get to her feet. "It's about time we put those White Fang bitches back in their place".

"Uh, thanks" Blake awkwardly responded. Weiss intervened before she could say anything else, however.

"Yes, well, it looks like you've got things covered out here" Weiss said, grabbing onto Blake's hand. "We'll just head inside now and kill Roman, if you don't mind".

"Shoot'em once for me!" he called before returning to his rampage outside.

Once she was close enough to the bank, Weiss let go of Blake's hand and summoned a white glyph in front of her to block the incoming fire from inside the bank. She then picked up a discarded pistol and stepped through the glyph, which shot her forward at mach speed and flying past all of the White Fang's shots. Five shots, five seconds, and six new dead bodies later and Weiss was the only one left in the lobby.

"Weiss, what the hell?" Blake said as she followed in behind her comrade. "That wasn't a very good idea".

"I don't care!" Weiss shouted. "Just get the vault open, poindexter, and have the boys load up on as much money as they can. I'll handle the upper floors".

"What the hell is your problem?" Blake asked, surprised to see Weiss acting even angrier than usual.

"I don't want those bastards to have a single cent".

* * *

 "Roman, I don't think they're going to go away" one of Torchwick's guests nervously said over the distant sound of gunfire. "Maybe we should evacuate the building".

"What? No! The party's just starting!" Roman said playfully. "Come on, maybe a drink will help take your mind off things. Barkeep! Get us two of your finest wines!"

"Coming right up sir" the woman behind the bar said through her thick green hair.

Yang had been waiting to hear this and got ready to move from her hiding place beneath a table near the bar. She stepped out from under the table cloth as casually as she could, and then reached her hand into one of the chocolate fountains she and Ruby had brought up. When she pulled back out The Penetrator came with her, and she raised it high over her head behind Torchwick.

"Why don't we skip the drinks and get right to the fun?" Yang said before bringing her massive dick down onto the back of Roman's head.

"I don't think so!" the bartender said gleefully as she stopped with her pink umbrella.

"What? You!" Yang shouted, leaping back away from the bar and Torchwick.

"That's right" Neo giggled as she removed her green wig. "You didn't think I'd leave my friend here all alone, did you? Though, I must say, I was really hoping you'd be shark chow by now. But if you're alive, than that probably means…"

"Ayayayayie!" Ruby shouted as she burst from the kitchen with a sub-machine gun, firing randomly around the room. Her rampage was short lived, however, as a White Fang member punched the girl right in the face, dropping her to the floor.

"Ow…" Ruby moaned as she dropped her gun.

"Marvelous work boys" Roman said, taking a sip from his glass. "Feel free to keep enjoying the party, my friends, but I think it's about time I retired to my study for the night".

"What should we do with her?" a masked Faunus asked as he, and several others, pressed their guns against Ruby's face. "Do we kill her?"

"Hmmm" Roman mumbled, trying to decide whether or not it would be worth it to pay the reward money he promised to whoever killed the leader of The Saints. "Nah, someone's bound pay a nice price for her ass. Feel free to take care of the blonde one though, Neo".

"With pleasure" the young assassin said joyously before summersaulting over the bar.

"Oh, so want a rematch, huh?" Yang said, tightening her grip on the coco covered cock. "That's fine by me!"

Yang swung The Penetrator forward but Neo just dodged nimbly out of the way, not even getting a speck of chocolate on her perfect white shirt.

"You really should just give up, you know" Neo said as she continued pirouetting around all of Yang's blows. "We've already danced this dance before, and I'm already getting bored".

"Ha!" Yang laughed. "You just don't want to admit you can't handle my big, chocolate dick! It's made for popping cherries like you, after all".

"Hmm, I'd say you're more of a weak, flavorless vanilla" Neo replied. "And you'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want to touch me".

Neo then kicked Yang and sent the older woman stumbling backwards until her fall was broken by the bar Neo was just serving at.

"Oh, you haven't seen me hard yet!"

* * *

The White Fang guards in the room ignored the fight going on between Neo and Yang, and were instead focused on escorting Ruby out of the room with her hands tied behind her back.

"Welcome to the world's oldest profession" one of the guards said as he pressed his gun into Ruby's back. "I'm sure you'll catch on to how things work quickly".

"Actually, I do have some experience in the area" Ruby said, thinking back to her glorious few minutes as a pimp.

"Really?" the guard asked. "Do you do anal?"

"No" Ruby said before activating her semblance, stealing the man's gun, and shoving it up his tight Faunus ass as far as the barrel could go in the blink of an eye. "But I'll give anything a shot once!"

Ruby pulled the trigger and caused the man's friends to be showered in a rain of blood, bones, and shit. By the time they had realized what had happened, Ruby opened fire with the sub-machine gun and took them all out, leaving eight bloody bodies on the floor in front of her.

"That was quite sloppy of you" said Ozpin, who was sitting alone at a table near the door with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Tell me about it" said Ruby, sticking out her tongue in disgust. "Now my gun's all covered in poop! But don't worry, I'll just grab a new one".

"No, I meant that you should have done that earlier" Ozpin pointed out in a mentor-like voice. "You took a great risk in choosing not to escape immediately".

"Yeah, but this way is a lot more fun!" Ruby said, kicking the man whose ass she just shot as he writhed in pain on the floor. "It's like…alphabet soup! What's the point of it if you don't play with your food a little?"

Ozpin giggled softly in response.

"Ah, how I yearn to be so young and optimistic again" he said, taking another sip of coffee. "You two have fun; I think it's about time I saw myself out".

"Bye! Have a safe drive home!" Ruby called out as she snapped the neck of the dying man in front of her.

Ozpin left the ballroom through the door Ruby was going to be brought through and pressed a button to summon the elevator in the lobby outside. After a few moments the steel doors opened to reveal at least a dozen White Fang guardsmen inside, each armed to the teeth.

"Hold it right there!" one of them shouted as they rushed towards Ruby and past the green haired CEO.

"Yay, more noodles to play with!"

* * *

Yang, meanwhile, leapt behind the bar and grabbed several bottles of champagne, shaking them violently before popping the corks off in Neo's direction.

"Oh, now that's just sad" mocked Neo, barely having to try to dodge the corks. "I knew you were the type to blow your load too early, but this is just pathetic".

"And yet you're still too afraid to get anywhere near it" Yang called out as she continued pouring champagne onto the floor. "What's the matter; too chicken of my cock?"

Deciding it was time to end their little game, Neo stepped forward to try and attack Yang but found her advance cut short by her feet slipping on the champagne that had been poured on the floor.

"Oof!" she grunted as she landed on her ass, dazed and confused. This gave Yang just enough time to leap over the counter with her Penetrator and smack Neo as hard as she could with her dildo, piercing the young girl's aura and leaving a giant dick shaped mark on the left side of Neo's face.

Yang raised her dildo for another blow, but Neo activated her semblance at the last moment and teleported a few feet away, rubbing the side of her cheek in pain.

"Aww, looks like your fuck-me pumps fucked you over" Yang said before pointing towards her champagne soaked feet. "Boots, motherfucker! Specially designed for kicking your ass!"

Neopolitan spat out a tooth and some blood in the blonde woman's direction, and a fire began to burn in her eyes.

"Okay then, we'll do this without protection" Neo said as she kicked off her high heels and unsheathed her knife from her parasol.

"Fine with me" Yang replied. "It feels better that way anyways".

* * *

"There you are, Ruby" Weiss said as she finally managed to reach the outside of Roman's ballroom after fighting her way up the skyscraper. "I've been looking for you for-wait, hold on a second".

Weiss was interrupted by a White Fang member suddenly coming up the stairs behind her with a knife, intending to skewer the former heiress like kebab. Weiss, however, merely stepped to the side and let him run straight past before kicking the man into a nearby window, which shattered instantly.

"Oh boy!" Ruby said excitedly, leaping off the pile of corpses she was sitting on to look out the window as the Faunus man fell helplessly to his death.

"Aaaand splat!" Ruby said, giggling. "Look at how high is blood squirted! That was so cool!"

"Eh, it gets boring after the fifth time" Weiss said disinterestedly. "So, has Roman been taken care of yet?"

"Not quite" Ruby replied, slightly embarrassed. "Neo showed up and ruined the party, so Torchwick went back upstairs to his office. Yang's still in the ballroom, dealing with her".

"What?" Weiss said, shocked. "Then why aren't you in there helping her?"

"I would, but I think they might be having sex in there" Ruby explained. "And I don't want to walk in on them".

"What?!" Weiss shouted. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Well, I think that's what they're doing" Ruby said, pressing her ear against the wooden ballroom door. "There's lots of grunting and slapping, and they keep saying things like 'I'm going to fuck you so hard' and 'I can go all night long'.

"Let me see" Weiss said as she pushed open the door and caused Ruby to trip and smack her head against the marble floor.

Inside, Neo and Yang were both very sweaty but, fortunately for Weiss, they both still had their clothes on. They had been fighting each other for a while now, but neither had been able to get the upper hand as the two women continued dodging blows from one another.

"What?!" Weiss shouted once again when she spotted what Yang had been using for as a sword. "That's your 'secret weapon'? I can't believe you brought that thing here!"

"That's funny" Yang said in between thrusts of her Penetrator. "Your mom was happy I had it last night".

"Good one, Yang!" Ruby called out, her face still flat against the floor.

Weiss slapped herself in the face in response.

"I swear, it's like I'm working with a bunch of twelve-year-olds" Weiss moaned to herself. "Did it occur to either of you that Roman might, oh, I don't know, be escaping as we speak!?"

"Oh yeah" Yang replied casually. "Could you go and do that for me? I'm a bit tied up at the moment".

Despite her cool demeanor, it was clear Yang was beginning to lose her fight with the younger girl. Each stab of Neo's knife was starting to get a little bit closer to hitting its mark, and one even grazed Yang's arm and ripped the sleeve of her shirt. Weiss, however, couldn't care less about that.

"Oh no you don't!" Weiss shouted, approaching the statue in the center of the room. "I'm not letting you get out of your job this time! Whenever we send you out on a mission, you've failed. Every. Single. Time. Well, not today!"

Neo's blade was right about to pierce Yang's throat when Yang suddenly felt herself being tossed backwards onto the floor by her long blonde hair.

"You're going to go upstairs and kill Torchwick, or this little tart is going to be the least of your problems!" Weiss loudly announced.

"But, Neo-!" Yang began to say before being cut off.

"Go!" Weiss ordered as she snapped off the end of the diamond woman's crystal spear. "I'll handle this".

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't think I bring myself to fight someone who's handicapped" Neo said mockingly. "Not to mention, you've got that broken arm as well…"

"Oooh, burn!" Ruby commented.

If looks could kill, Weiss would have slaughtered Ruby several times over in that one moment.

"Eheh, sorry" Ruby apologized nervously before taking Yang by the hand and rushing towards the ballroom's doors. "Let's go, sis!"

Weiss waited until she heard the door slam behind her to address the young assassin standing in front of her, who was casually twirling her parasol as if she didn't care if Ruby and Yang left or stayed.

"Now that we're free of interruptions", Weiss said as she raised her spear, "en garde!"

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Ruby?" Yang said worriedly. "Neo's pretty tough. Maybe we should go back and help Weiss".

"We will!" Ruby said cheerily as she walked up the stairs of Torchwick's skyscraper. "Just as soon as we finish tearing Roman his new asshole. You remember what Weiss said; he doesn't even have a semblance! We can slice him open easy as pie!"

"I guess so" Yang admitted. "But still, something doesn't seem quite right".

"Stop being such a Worried Willy, Yang" said Ruby. "We're about to kill our very first crime lord! Isn't that exciting? Ooh, I wonder if we toss him off the building at this height his corpse will pancake against the ground, like a cartoon!"

"Ha! I don't know, but we'll find out" Yang said, her mood lifting.

Finally, the two reached the lobby outside of Roman's office and found themselves face to face with Torchwick's new secretary, who was currently typing away at her laptop behind her large wooden desk.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked, not the least bit phased by Ruby's blood spattered uniform or Yang's massive dildo.

"Yes, we're here to see Mr. Torchwick" Ruby explained. "We're on urgent business".

"Very well" the secretary replied, adjusting her bookish glasses. "I'll let him know you're here. In the meantime, feel free to browse the magazines we have available".

"Okay" Ruby said, picking up a random magazine off a nearby table. "Oooh, an 'I Spy' puzzle! I haven't played with one of these in years!"

"Ruby!" Yang interjected sternly.

"Oh, right" Ruby said as she took a pistol out of her pocket. "We'll just see ourselves in".

Ruby walked over to Roman's door and kicked it in, revealing a small army of guards inside with Roman sitting on his desk at the far side.

"Aw crud" Ruby cursed before diving out of the way of the White Fang's incoming bullets. None of the shots hit her or Yang, but much of the Dust grazed the secretary's desk nearby.

"Two women here to see you, Mr. Torchwick" the secretary said lazily into her headset as she continued typing on her computer.

"Come on in!" Roman announced over the chorus of gunfire going on all around him. "Don't be shy! You've worked so hard to get this far, it'd be a shame if you chickened out now".

Yang walked over to the secretary's desk picked it up slightly off the floor.

"Mind if I borrow this?" Yang asked politely.

"Knock yourself out" the bespectacled woman replied, sliding her laptop off the desk and into her lap.

Yang then tossed the desk straight into Roman's office, colliding with several unfortunate guards in the front of the room and sending splinters flying everywhere as it fractured to pieces. Ruby took the opportunity to run in and start gunning down as many White Fang as she could, with Yang following closely behind with her Penetrator.

"That's the spirit!" Roman encouraged as he started climbing out the open window behind his desk. "But you'll need to move a lot quicker if you want to catch me!"

Ruby tried to take a shot at Torchwick, but was interrupted by a bullet hitting her in shoulder and searing partway through her uniform.

"Argh!" Ruby grimaced, grasping her left shoulder as she took down the guard that so rudely interrupted her kill.

"You okay, Ruby?" Yang asked as she cock slapped a man so hard that it broke his neck. "We can still back out if you're aura's getting low".

"Are you kidding?" Ruby said as she dodged more shots and slaughtered more goons. "What kind of gangster would I be without a few battle scars? You just want me to go because I've got more kills than you!"

"In your dreams!" Yang said, tossing one man out a window and breaking the arm of another. "I've already got ten kills, easy!"

"Thirty three!" Ruby happily announced as she shot one Faunus woman straight through the heart. "You better catch up, Yang!"

"Is that a challenge?" Yang asked, cocking an eyebrow. "You asked for it!"

Yang then activated her semblance, causing her hair to catch on fire, and charged towards the nearest group of White Fang guards. The first she merely punched out of the way into a very expensive looking armoire, which collapsed on top of him. The next two tried desperately to keep the flaming woman at bay, but Yang just absorbed the damage and directed it back at them, sending the two flying out a nearby window with one swing of the blonde woman's mighty penetrator.

The last guard in the room saw Yang approaching him and dropped his gun and immediately got on his knees.

"Please, don't kill me!" he begged. "I'll do whatever you want, even drop my flags, just don't-"

He was cut off by Yang suddenly grasping the man's jaw, which Yang held open as she took careful aim with her Penetrator.

"Alright then" said Yang. "Don't gag".

Yang then shoved all three feet of the rubbery purple plastic down the man's throat. The man's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head as he tried desperately to breathe, but his windpipe firmly blocked by Yang's massive sex toy. He started turning blue and stopped struggling a few seconds later. Finally, Yang pulled The Penetrator back out and allowed the White Fang guard to slump onto the ground, dead.

"Aw man, he used teeth" Yang said, examining the bite marks towards the base of The Penetrator. "Now that's just rude".

"Nice kills!" Ruby said, clapping. "But you're still nineteen behind".

"Oh, shut up" Yang said, shoving her sister playfully. "Now then, where did Roman run off to?"

"Hmm…" Ruby mumbled as she looked out the office window. "There's a ladder out here; he must be trying to escape on the roof!"

"What?!" Yang shouted. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Yang started climbing up the ladder as fast as she could with Ruby right on her tail. They could both hear the sound of heavy machinery operating on the roof, and Yang was certain it was the sound of an osprey being loaded with cargo.

"Nice try, Roman" Yang yelled as she neared the end of the ladder. "But we're not letting you…"

Yang was shocked into silence when she saw what was actually awaiting her on the roof. It was Roman Torchwick, but he wasn't in anything as mundane as an osprey. Instead, he was in an enormous, gunmetal grey mech suit, which stood over teen feet tall and five feet wide, with several massive guns on each arm that were pointing directly towards Yang and Ruby.

"…run away?" Roman said, finishing Yang's sentence. "Who said anything about that?"

* * *

"I must say, I am quite impressed" Neo said as she continued her duel with Weiss. "You're much tougher than your friends".

"Of course I am" Weiss coolly replied. "I was at the top of my class when I was training to be a Huntress, after all".

"Yeah, it's such a shame you ended up with a bunch of losers like them" said Neo. "If you weren't a Schnee, you could have done so well in the White Fang".

"As if I'd ever join a gang of monsters like you" Weiss spat in between spear thrusts.

"Ha! Now that's funny!" giggled Neo. "You really think you're any better than us? How many people have you killed today alone?"

Weiss thrust her diamond spear towards Neo's head, but the younger girl merely ducked under it and continued talking.

"Face it, you act all tough and mature, but you're still just an angry little girl who can't get over the past" said Neo. "Too bad you'll never get the chance to grow up".

Weiss made a move to activate her semblance but was interrupted by the skyscraper suddenly shaking violently.

"What the hell?" asked Weiss.

"Oooh, looks like Roman is finally playing with his new toy" said Neo. "I'd say you should just give up now, but where's the fun in that?"

* * *

Ruby and Yang were only barely able dodge out of the way of Roman's barrage of missiles, which completely obliterated the ladder they came up on. They tried hiding behind some air conditioning units, but Torchwick's high powered guns simply tore through the metal like a knife through butter, so they had to keep running avoid being filled with holes.

"What's the matter?" Roman said over the mech's loudspeakers. "Thought I'd go down as easy as my pets? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you'll find that I'm no one's bitch".

"Fuck!" Yang cursed as she ran out of the way of yet another burst of fire. "We've got to make a plan, Ruby. You go in from the left, and I'll-"

Yang turned and saw that her sister was nowhere to be found.

"Ruby?" she asked, looking all around her.

"Oh my god, is that an Atlesian Paladin?" Ruby said, suddenly out in the open in front of Trochwick's mech. "That is so cool!"

"Why yes, thank you for noticing" Roman said before opening fire. "It's a top of the line battle suit, imported directly from Atlas. And, once I'm done with you, I'm going take back every inch of turf you've stolen from me!"

"Cool, I read about these things in Weapons Magazine!" Ruby said excitedly as she avoided Torchwick's fire. "They're really popular in Atlas because they're so easy to repair…"

Ruby then dashed forward at lightning speed, unscrewing several bolts on the Paladin's right arm. The double barreled Dust rifle on that arm fell off a second later, which Ruby eagerly caught before Roman could realize what was going on.

"…because you can pop all the parts right off!" Ruby said, proudly displaying her new, oversized rifle.

"What?!" Roman said, stunned. "You little bitch! That thing's more valuable than all your internal organs put together!"

"Really?" Ruby asked, still managing to dodge Roman's shots in spite of the massive gun now in her hands. "Let's see if you got your money's worth!"

Ruby then aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger, firing a shot that left a decent sized dent in the side of the Paladin's heavy armor. Unfortunately for her, she was not anticipating the gun's strong recoil and was hurtled off the side of the building towards the cold hard cement below.

"Wha-oh" Ruby said as she began to plummet past the skyscraper's many windows.

Swiftly, Ruby pointed the gun towards the ground and pulled the trigger several times, each shot sending her a bit higher back into the air. Eventually she overshot the building altogether, and was about to let herself fall back down when she noticed Torchwick begin to fire homing missiles from his mech's back.

"Aw, double crud" Ruby said, taking aim at the incoming missiles. She managed to take out a missile with each shot, but, every time she fired, the gun would send her higher and higher into the air. This gave Roman time to fire even more missiles at the airborne gang leader, which eventually caused Ruby to shoot herself so high that she could barely see the mech below her anymore.

"Hey!" Yang shouted, interrupting Torchwick's barrage with a smack of her dildo. "Don't forget about me!"

The blonde haired woman then went to town on the massive machine, smacking to and fro with her Penetrator with all her might. Yang's enhanced Huntress strength made every whack hit harder than a shotgun blast, and they started tearing away Roman's heavy armor piece by piece.

Her attack was abruptly interrupted by a mechanical hand suddenly popping of the mech's chest and wrapping itself around Yang's throat.

"Ah yes, how could I forget about you?" Roman said affectionately. "Don't worry, I'll be sure you're taken care of this time!"

"Hands off my sister!" Ruby yelled seconds before smashing her gun into the top of Roman's suit at terminal velocity.

The impact was strong enough to shake Yang from Roman's grip, and the two sisters started slowly backing away from Roman's suit.

"Alright, now you've asked for it!" said Roman, but the Dust rifle embedded in his back exploded a before he could make good on that threat. What was left of the Paladin fell to pieces a few moments later, leaving an exposed Roman Torchwick standing in the middle of the rubble.

* * *

Back in the ballroom, the duel between Neo and Weiss was going nowhere fast, much to the younger girl's disappointment. In spite of her cumbersome cast and makeshift weapon, Weiss's grace matched, if not surpassed, Neo's in every way. To an outside observer, it actually looked like the two were using the dancefloor for its intended purpose as they danced deadly pirouettes around one another. It wasn't the cast that was getting on Neo's nerves, however.

"Those shoes…" Neo said, glancing towards' Weiss's shoes. "You haven't even tripped once!"

She was right; even though Weiss's heels were even taller than Neo's were, the white haired gangster was having absolutely no trouble staying on her feet, even when walking on the wet floor.

"Of course not!" Weiss said, her last thrust coming within an inch of Neo's head. "A real woman can fight no matter what she's wearing. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Neo laughed a little in response.

"You got me" she confessed to Weiss. "I'm just a little, inexperienced girl. But youth does have its advantages…"

Weiss's next blow finally managed to strike Neo directly in the chest but, instead of piercing right to the heart, the spear tip was caught by an invisible force and tossed to the side, leaving Weiss completely defenseless. Neo had managed to concentrate her aura into one spot, which meant that Weiss's attack fell direclty into Neopolitan's trap. Weiss tried to run away, but was knocked down by a swift bow from the young girl's pink parasol.

"…like having a stronger aura" Neo finished, standing above her fallen opponent. "Any last words?"

"Yeah" a voice said from behind her.

Neo's killing blow was interrupted by several loud bangs and a sharp pain to her back. She looked down and the last thing she saw before blacking out were several small exit wounds in the front of her chest.

"Even the young have limits" Blake said from behind her rifle. "You okay, Weiss?"

"Cocky little brat" Weiss mumbled, kicking Neo's dead body across the floor. "Yeah, I'm fine. You did get blood all over my dress, though".

"Well, at least it's not your blood" Blake pointed out. "We've loaded up all the money downstairs. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I just need to make sure our boss hasn't tripped off the roof or something" Weiss said. "Oh, and, uh, thanks for saving me, I guess".

The two stared at each other for a few moments before quickly and awkwardly embracing in one of Ruby's 'gang hugs'. But it was over as soon as it was started, and the two immediately backed off from one another.

"Let's never do that again" said Weiss.

"Agreed".

* * *

"This can't be happening!" said Roman, observing the broken metal around him. "Do you have ANY idea how much money I spent on that thing?!"

"Well, money can't buy you everything" Yang said, picking Roman up by his neck.

"Yeah, like being a badass!" Ruby intoned. "Go Saints!"

Ruby then brought up her left hand, palm up, and started wiggling her fingers around randomly.

"Uh, Ruby, what are you doing?" Yang asked.

"It's our gang sign!" Ruby replied. "It's The Saint's Rose, with the petals fluttering in the wind".

"Looks more like a bunch of trees spazing out" said Yang.

"Or an upside-down octopus" said Roman.

"No, it's a rose!" Ruby whined.

"If you say so" Yang conceded. "So, I'd say that was pretty epic boss fight, wouldn't you say?"

"Hmm, I don't know…" said Ruby. "I mean, yeah, there was a giant robot, and lots of explosions, but it was still pretty short".

"Oh really?" Yang asked. "Do you have an idea on how to spice it up?"

"You know how I said I wanted to throw Roman off the top of the skyscraper and see what happened when he hit the ground?" Ruby said, causing Roman's eyes to shoot open with fear. "Well, I still want to find out, but up close and personal".

"I see what you're getting at" Yang said knowingly. "You sure you've got enough aura to make it, though?"

"Only one way to find out" Ruby replied.

With that, Yang walked Roman over to the side of the forty story high bank and held the redheaded leader of the White Fang over the edge. They could both see CRDL down below, who were still fighting off what was left of the White Fang.

"N-now let's not be too hasty" Roman said, very scared. "I have millions of Lien in offshore bank accounts, and you can have it all! All you have to do is let me go, and I'll never bother you again!"

"Sorry, Torchy, but there's not enough money in the world that would make me give this up!" Ruby said excitedly. "Do it, Yang!"

The older girl then released her grip on Roman's neck and allowed him to start plummeting towards the ground below. Ruby jumped after him shortly thereafter, landed her feet onto his back, and started riding the poor man down through the air like a skateboard.

"Aaaah!" Torchwick screamed as accelerated towards his fate on the concrete below. "You're insane!"

"No, I'm alive!" Ruby corrected. "And you're not! Bye-bye!"

They were greeted by the street only a few moments later.

* * *

"Oh god, it hurts!" Ruby cried. "I'm gonna die!"

"I think you're exaggerating a little bit" Blake said as she continued drawing Ruby's new tattoo on her left shoulder. "No one's ever died from getting a tattoo on their arm".

After killing Torchwick, The Saints returned to Beacon with all the money they had stolen to lay low from the police for a little while. Ruby, however, had insisted on doing at least one thing to celebrate, and told Blake to give the young crime lord her first tattoo in Ruby's room.

"Are you sure? Because it really, really hurts!" Ruby moaned as Blake continued.

"Augh, I'm not going listen to you whine all night!" Weiss groaned nearby. "Just…try to pay attention to the TV, and maybe you won't feel it".

Weiss turned on Ruby's TV and set it to the news channel, which was currently talking about the gang's exploits earlier that day.

"The city remains shocked in the aftermath of one of the biggest, and certainly most violent, bank robberies in Vale history" a male news anchor announced. "Members of the now infamous gang, The Saints, forced their way into the First Bank of Vale and stole over twenty million Lien. The also killed famous philanthropist and owner of the building, Roman Torchwick, during a charity event.

"The police tried to intervene, but were forced back when another gang, CRDL, intervened on The Saints' side" he continued. "Not even police chief Pyrrha Nikos herself was able to stop this rampage of Huntsmen and Huntresses across our city streets, although some are theorizing that that was never Chief Nikos's intention in the first place. When asked for a comment on this, Chief Nikos had this to say".

The camera then cut to a woman holding a microphone up to Pyrrhas face outside the smoldering ruins of what used to be the First Bank of Vale.

"I would like to remind everyone that most of the violence perpetrated today was done by normal humans and Faunus without any special powers" the red haired woman explained to the camera. "To suggest that Huntsmen are naturally more violent than regular people is absurd, and I an incredibly offended by the idea that I would ever collude with such heinous criminals".

"In spite of that statement, calls for Chief Pyrrha's resignation have continued louder than ever" the anchorman said as the camera cut back to him. "But unless the mayor herself calls for it, that appears unlikely to occur.

"Hrgh" Ruby whimpered as she tried desperately to pay attention to the news. "Are you done yet?"

"Almost" came the reply. "Aaaand finished"

Ruby looked at her slightly scared left shoulder and saw the White Fang's symbol, a tiger head with three claw marks behind it, staring back at her in a thin black ink.

"Whew" Ruby sighed. "Thank goodness that's over with".

"Not quite" Blake said as she prepared a new needle. "That was just the line work; now we're going to start on the actual tattoo".

"There's more!?" Ruby gasped. "I'm not gonna survive!"

"Oh, relax" Yang said on the other side of the couch. "You destroyed an entire gang and jumped off a fucking skyscraper; I think you'll live. Besides, it was your idea to get a tat for every gang leader you kill".

"You're right" Ruby said bravely. "I can't chicken out now. Do it, Blake".

Blake raised the new needle and brought it towards Ruby's arm.

"Oooow!" Ruby screeched. "It hurts!"

"But I haven't even touched you yet" Blake pointed out.

"Oh yeah" Ruby said, looking back at her shoulder. "Okay, for real this time".

* * *

In the southeast agricultural district, the last of White Fang gathered in an abandoned supermarket. After the death of Roman and Neopolitan, the White Fang called an emergency meeting at their final remaining stronghold, though only about forty of them bothered to show up. The rest had already thrown down their flags, and The Saints now controlled the almost the entire agricultural district, the eastern residential district, and the eastern commercial district.

"We never should have let that bastard lead us" said one Faunus man. "We lost our way because of him".

"Yeah!" said another. "'White Fang' used to mean something, but he turned us into a bunch of punks! Well, I say we go out there and start a revolution right now! Take back what's ours!"

"I admire your enthusiasm" a voice said from the shadows. "But now is not the time"

A Faunus man with short red hair and small red horns sticking out of his forehead emerged from the shadows of the dimly lit store. He was wearing a long black trench coat, black pants, and a white mask similar to the White Fang's normal mask, but smaller and with red markings around the eyes.

"Adam Taurus!?" someone gasped. "We thought you were dead!"

"It will take much more than a man to kill the spirit of Faunus rights" he announced. "I will not rest until the White Fang has been returned to its former glory, its true glory, but to fight now would be a grave mistake. Our enemies are too numerous, and too strong. But, we will have our chance soon enough".


	13. Chapter 13

"Just a few more screws and…finished!" a man in a blue jumpsuit said as he completed installing a new thermostat into one of Beacon's walls. "Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Xiao Long".

"The pleasure is all mine" Yang replied, shaking the man's hand.

After the man had left, Yang set the thermostat to a comfortably cool temperature and sat herself down over a nearby vent as it started spraying cold air. The Saints had been enjoying their newfound peace over the last few weeks, and had all the money they had stolen from Roman's bank used to start renovating their hideout. New carpet was installed, the floors were shined, the roof was patched up, but none of those were as appreciated as the instillation their new air conditioning system, which would help alleviate the sizzling summer heat that they'd been putting up with since they arrived at Beacon.

"Yang!" a de-casted Weiss yelled as she entered the room. "Get your sweaty ass off that vent! This place smells enough like you already without you farting into the ventilation shafts".

"Oh yeah? Make me" Yang taunted.

"Knock it off, you two" interrupted Blake, who was brushing her hair on Ruby's couch nearby. "We're meeting up with CRDL to negotiate an alliance today, and it wouldn't look good if one of you showed up with a black eye".

"You mean you're meeting up with CRDL" corrected Weiss. "I refuse to have anything to do with those Neanderthals".

"Oh, lighten up, Weiss" Ruby said, entering the room. She was busy tying an expensive new tie around her neck, though it looked almost the same as her old black one. "They did help us take down the White Fang, after all. Plus, if we join forces, The Embers won't stand a chance against us".

"I still say you're making a big mistake" Weiss reiterated. "You should just pump Cardin and his cronies full of Dust as soon as you see them. It'll save us a lot of time and energy".

"Well, as much as I know Ruby loves shooting things, that won't be an option" said Blake. "We're going to be meeting in the Vale History Museum in the central commercial district. If security so much as smells a gun, we'll probably be spending the rest of our lives mining Dust at Patch Prison".

"Wait, are you telling me that you're going in there unarmed?!" Weiss shouted in disbelief. "You've got to be joking".

"I know, right? It sucks!" said Ruby. "I practically feel naked without little Betsy here, but there's no getting past their smancy security. But, that means they won't be armed as well, so it's not like be outgunned if things go sour".

"Yeah, and besides, you know I'm hardly defenseless without a gun" Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "If Cardin so much as a looks at me funny I'll be all like 'wa-pow'! And 'hiya'! And 'oh, you want some of this?'"

"If you say so" said Weiss. "I'll be a few blocks away in a getaway car. Give me a call when things go inevitably wrong".

"Oh please" said Ruby. "What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

"Wow, look at this place" Ruby said she entered the museum. "I can't believe I skipped out on a field trip here when I was younger! This place is amazing!"

The inside of the museum was very large, and had several displays that caught the young crime lord's eye. There were cases full of old flags of nations that no longer existed, racks full of guns that were almost as big as Ruby, suits of battle scarred armor, and taxidermy replicas of the Grimm that once roamed wild across Remnant.

"Look at the size of this one!" Ruby gasped, pointing towards a rifle over six feet long. "You could take off someone's head with a gun that big! I want one!"

"Are you sure?" asked Blake. "You know guns back then could only fire one shot before needing to be reloaded".

Ruby gasped in horror at that revelation.

"No way!" Ruby shouted. "How could people live like that?! If you can't murder ten people per second, then what's the point of murdering at all?"

"Sometimes it's the quality of the kills, not the quantity" Yang interjected.

"Says Miss 'Sixteen Kills Behind'" teased Ruby.

"What?!" Yang gasped. "It was only fourteen and you know it! I was the one who killed Roman!"

"Nope; you just dropped him off the building. I was the one who smacked him into the ground, so technically it was my kill. So there". Ruby said, sticking her tongue out towards her older sister.

"You kill stealing bitch! Maybe next time I won't save you from the giant, rampaging robot" Yang said, playfully punching Ruby in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Ruby cried out.

"Oh shit, are you okay?" Yang asked, her tone changing drastically.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Ruby replied. "It's just a little sore still. Now come on! Let's see a few more exhibits before Cardy shows up!"

A few feet away, at the reception desk, a young woman with blonde hair sat quietly, listening to the Saints' entire conversation. But, even if she hadn't heard what they were talking about, it was hard for her not to recognize the woman whose picture had been on the front of every newspaper only a few weeks ago.

Carefully, the receptionist reached under her desk and hit a little red button attached to the underside. She made a mental note to change her pants as soon as she got home.

* * *

Ruby and her friends waited for CRDL to arrive at the far end of the museum, in the main Grimm exhibit. Large crowds of people walked past them every minute as Blake listened to the audio tour, Ruby 'ooh'-ed and 'aah'-ed at all the fake various Grimm on display, and Yang sat alone at a nearby bench.

After about a half an hour of waiting there, Cardin Winchester finally arrived. He wasn't wearing his sports jersey, but he was still dressed quite casually in a simple blue shirt and grey pants.

The brunette gangster was accompanied by two other men; one was the man with the green Mohawk who saved Weiss and Blake at the First Bank of Vale, and the other was a man with medium length brown hair, black pants, and a black sweatshirt with a picture of a blue bird printed on the front. The second man also looked like he was constantly squinting, even though it wasn't that bright in the room.

"Hey there, babe!" Cardin said as he approached Yang. "I'm sure you know who we are, but I'll introduce ourselves anyway. The name's Cardin Winchester, fearless leader of the toughest gang in Vale. My green friend here is none other than Russel Thrush himself, and the jokester on the right is Dove Bronzewing".

"Sup!" Russel greeted enthusiastically. Dove, however, remained silent and merely glared up at his taller friend in annoyance.

"Yang Xiao Long" Yang said, getting up and shaking Cardin's hand. "The one with the headphones is Blake Belladonna…"

"And you must be Ruby" Cardin said, addressing the girl in the red hood.

Ruby didn't respond at first because she hadn't realized that Cardin had arrived. Instead, she was busy imitating the fearsome pose of the Beowolf mannequin in front of her, snarling her teeth, growling softly, and waving her hands around like claws.

"Oh, uh, hi!" she said, finally taking notice of Cardin's presence. "It's great to finally meet you, Mr. Winchester. I read about some of your murders in the paper, and I must say, your liberal use of high explosives is really inspiring".

"Ah, a fan?" Cardin said proudly. "Something tells me the two of us are going to get along just fine".

"Yay!" Ruby said excitedly. The young woman was right about to start negotiating their two gangs working together, but Ruby was interrupted at the last second by a small metal canister suddenly bumping against her foot.

"Wha?" Ruby said, picking the can up off the floor. "Hey Blake, did you drop a soda or something?"

"Hmm?" Blake mumbled, taking out her ear buds. "Wait, that's not a soda can! It's a gas-"

Blake was cut off as the gas grenade started releasing its payload, spraying high volumes of nauseating tear gas in all their faces. Their auras helped stop them from collapsing to the ground immediately, but it still burned their noses and their eyes immensely before Ruby had the good sense to toss the grenade as far away as she could.

More tear gas grenades started to go off across the rest of the exhibit, filling the air with a thick white smoke and sending the crowd into a panic. At that moment, maintenance doors around the room suddenly burst open, and SWAT officers started filing into the room at lightning speed.

"Get down!" Yang shouted, grabbing her two friends and taking cover behind a bench.

The blonde haired woman pulled them down just in time, as the police officers started opening fire on the room with their assault rifles and pistols. The thunderous roars of their guns were deafening as they fired indiscriminately across the exhibit, gunning down several dazed civilians in the process. But, oddly enough, no one who was shot actually seemed to be hurt in any way.

"Shit, it's the cops!" Cardin yelled over the police's incoming gunfire. "They must have followed us here!"

"What do we do now?" asked Ruby.

"We fight our way out, that's what!" Russel said before dashing out of cover and attacking a nearby cop.

"I like that plan!" Yang replied, before following his example.

The rest of gangsters soon followed suit, and started defending themselves in whatever ways they could. Cardin picked up the large metal trash can he was hiding behind and tossed it towards a small group of officers, knocking them over. Blake tore off the spikes off the back of an Ursa mannequin and started using them as makeshift daggers, and Russel was getting quite creative with a potted plant he found. Dove had already managed to swipe the gun out of one officer's hands and started to return fire, while Yang simply went on fighting with only her fists and her semblance to protect her.

Ruby, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse me, sir" a cheery feminine voice said behind an officer in between shots. "Is this yours?"

The officer looked up from his rifle to see Ruby Rose holding a gun that looked eerily similar to his. Glancing back down, he saw the rifle he had in his hands just a second ago wasn't there anymore, and that he was just holding onto empty air. The officer had just enough time to panic before Ruby shot him twice in the head.

"Hehe, that never gets old!" Ruby giggled. "Hey, wait a minute…his balloon didn't pop! Hey Yang, what gives?"

"They're Crack guns" Yang explained while fighting off a group of cops. "They can knock you out if you get shot too many times, but you can't kill anyone with them".

"What?!" Ruby gasped. "That's even worse than those old guns!"

"Well, I'm sorry Ruby, but that's just the way it is" Blake added as she stabbed a man through the arm with her daggers.

"No!" Ruby announced fervently. "I refuse to believe that something so…awful could exist! If it's a gun, then it can kill people! End of story!"

Ruby then unloaded an entire clip one nearby cop, causing her to fall to the floor. But, when Ruby went to check on the woman's pulse, she found a disappointing heartbeat still pounding away. Another officer rushed forward to try and save his friend, so Ruby tried to crack his skull open with butt of the gun. This didn't work either, however, as the man's tough helmet absorbed most of the blow and he just fell to the floor, dazed.

"Has she seriously not heard of non-lethal weaponry?" Blake asked Yang as they both continued to fight. "Or had a water gun as kid?"

"Nope" Yang casually replied. "She's been using live ammo since as long as I can remember. It made birthday parties a hell of a lot more exciting, let me tell you".

"Come on, choke on it!" Ruby said as she desperately jabbed the barrel of a gun down one man's throat. "Please? I'll be your best friend! Just hurry up and die already!"

Ruby's non-murderous rampage was interrupted by the exhibit's skylights suddenly shattering, and more police officers started to repel into the room. One of them was Chief Pyrrha Nikos, who was armed with a very large and intimidating Crack shotgun.

Ruby stopped trying to choke the officer in her grip as soon as she saw Pyrrha land on the floor, and let the gasping man go. A bright red blush quickly lit up Ruby's face as she stared up towards the red haired commando standing in front of her.

"You!" Pyrrha shouted at Ruby. "You're the one who has been terrorizing this city for the last few months. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Um…uh..." Ruby mumbled, avoiding eye contact. "I, you see, it's like, I-I-I-"

Pyrrha didn't let Ruby finish her stuttering sentence, and instead fired a shot from her shotgun directly into young girl's heart. Ruby hit the ground a second later, still barely conscious, but completely unable to move.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out when she saw what happened.

Pyrrha stepped forward to deliver another blast and make sure that Ruby stayed down, but Yang managed to tackle the long haired police captain before it was too late. The two then started struggling for Pyrrha's gun, each fiercely vying for the upper hand.

Years of training had made Pyrrha's arms quite strong, but, in the end, they were no match for Yang's raw, semblance fueled power. This, along with an unexpected headbutt, forced Pyrrha to let go of the gun.

"You're history!" Yang said, pointing the gun towards Pyrrha's face.

Unfortunately for Yang, this gave Pyrrha enough time to kick Yang off of her before the gangster could pull the trigger, and the police chief quickly got back on her feet. Yang tried firing at Pyrrha, but the redhead was able dodge all of Yang's shots.

One of those missed shots struck a display case that was full of ancient, Grimm killing swords and spears. Seizing her chance, Pyrrha activated her magnetic semblance and picked up the metallic weapons with the power of her mind and started hurling them towards Yang.

Yang was able to knock most them away with her gun, but a few came dangerously close to chopping off some of the blonde's favorite limbs. Finally, Yang managed to line up a shot on Pyrrha, and she blasted the policewoman right in the middle of her chest. The force of the blast was enough to knock Pyrrha to the ground, and subsequent shots quickly ensured that she wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon.

"Sorry hotcheeks, but there's not enough room for two firebrands in this city" Yang said, picking up a sword and bringing it to Pyrrha's unconscious throat. "If you see Roman Torchwick in hell, tell him you died the same way; like a bitch".

"Stop!" Ruby weakly called out at the last second. "Please…don't kill her…"

"Ugh, fine" Yang said, rolling her eyes. "But I don't want you nagging me for a low kill count ever again".

By now, Blake, Cardin, Dove, and Russel had managed to kill or incapacitate most of the remaining cops in the room, but the sounds of osprey engines overhead let them know that more were on the way.

"Come on! Let's blow this joint!" Cardin said as he and his posse started running towards the door. "We'll finish this somewhere else!"

"Coming!" Yang yelled back as she picked Ruby up over her shoulder. "Blake, tell Weiss to get her prissy princess ass down here, now!"

"Already on it" Blake said, sending a text on her phone.

The Saints' and CRDL's getaway vehicles were both waiting for them out front by the time they exited out the front of the museum, and both of them were busy fighting off incoming cop cars as Ruby and her friends arrived.

"There you are!" Weiss shouted as Yang, Ruby, and Blake all piled into the backseat of her red sports car. "What the fuck happened in there?"

"No time to explain!" Yang shouted back. "Just drive!"

* * *

It took the two cars almost an hour, but eventually they were both able to lose the police somewhere in the eastern commercial district. When he was certain that they weren't being followed anymore, Cardin ordered the driver of his blue luxury car to turn into a nearby alleyway and The Saints followed shortly behind. He and the three other men in the car then stepped out of the vehicle and waited for Ruby and her friends to come out and speak with them.

"You okay, Ruby?" Yang asked her sister, who still looked a little stunned from the Crack-shot she took earlier.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Ruby said coolly while trying to hide her obvious dizziness. "You said it yourself; you can't kill someone with those guns even if you wanted to...sadly…"

"If you say so" Yang said. "Just try not to let that happen the next time you see Pyrrha; I might not be there to save your big, gay ass".

"I, uh, don't know what you're talking about" Ruby said, blushing.

"Suuure you don't" Yang teased playfully. "Now come on, it's time we actually started negotiating".

"I'll watch the car" Weiss said bitterly as she watched her three friends exit the vehicle.

"Excellent!" Cardin said joyously as he watched the three Saints walk up to him. "I'm glad to see you three lovely ladies all made it in one piece. Now, where were we?"

"How about we start by divvying up the pie for after we defeat The Embers" said Blake.

"Pie? What pie?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"I meant Vale, Ruby" Blake responded dryly.

"Ick, who'd want to eat a city?" Ruby said, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "It's full of concrete, and poop, and really smelly old people, and…oh, wait, you mean dividing up territory! Okay then, what's your offer?"

Cardin scratched his chin for a few moments before replying. "I was thinking about….twenty five percent".

"Deal!" Ruby said excitedly. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Winchester!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Yang interrupted, grabbing Ruby's hand before it could shake with Cardin's. "I assume that we get other seventy five percent".

"Ha!" Cardin laughed. "That's a good one! No, of course we're the ones getting the big cut".

"That's outrageous!" argued Blake. "The Saints already control a third of Vale, and we fought tooth and nail for every bit of it! Even if we let you have the rest of the city, there's no way we'd let you just have a third of our hoods".

"You mean WE fought tooth and nail for it" said Russel. "If it wasn't for us, you'd still be catfighting with the White Fang, and you wouldn't have guys anywhere near this part of the city! I think we've more than earned a little payback for that favor".

"Yeah, and besides, you'll still get to keep all the Faunus infested parts of town" said Cardin. "All the animal freaks you could ever want, yours for the shooting!"

"Uh, I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding…" said Ruby. "Just because we fought the White Fang doesn't mean we're an anti-Faunus gang".

"Ha, that's even better!" Cardin said, laughing uncontrollably along with his three lieutenants. "No need to be polite here; you and I both know those animals are nothing but a bunch of stupid, lazy, good for nothing bums and whores. It's up to humans like us to make sure they know their place".

Blake tried not to react to this hurtful comment, but Yang could tell just by the way she glanced downward that she didn't take what Cardin said well.

"Take that back" Yang demanded.

"What?" Cardin asked, incredibly confused.

Yang walked up to the brown haired gang leader and stared him right in his scared blue eyes.

"I said; Take. That. Back" Yang said, emphasizing each word with a crack of her knuckles.

Suddenly, CRDL's blue haired getaway driver pulled out a gun and put it up to the side of Yang's head.

"Back off, bitch!" he ordered. "No one talks to the boss that way!"

"Hold on guys" Ruby said off to the side. "There's no need for fighting. Well, actually, yes, there is, but not between us! We should be out there, killing loads of people together! As murder buddies! We can still make things work if we try hard enough…"

"Hey, what's going on out here?" Weiss said, stepping out of her care with her gun in hand. "Why does Yang have a gun pointed at her?"

"Hey, it's that skank who stood me up!" Cardin's drive shouted, aiming his gun towards Weiss. "Get her!"

"…or maybe not" Ruby finished sadly. "And I already ordered all those 'Saints + CRDL' t-shirts…"

The blue haired man started firing on Weiss and vice versa, while Yang took the opportunity to punch Cardin into a nearby brick wall. But, instead of staying around to finish the job, Yang picked up her little sister and made beeline back towards Weiss's car, Blake following shortly behind.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ruby asked as she was stuffed back in the getaway vehicle. "They're gonna get away!"

"I'm sorry, but you're in no condition to be fighting, Ruby, especially not against four hardened Huntsmen without a weapon of your own" Yang explained over the sound of bullets hitting the windshield of the car. "Now punch it, Weiss!"

"I told you we should have brought the big guns, but did you listen to me? Nooo" Weiss said sardonically as she hit the gas and backed out of the alleyway as fast as she could. "You assholes are paying for my new car, I hope you realize this".


	14. Chapter 14

"So, what's blue boy's deal?" Yang asked Weiss once they and their friends were all safely back in Ruby's room at Beacon. "You leave him high and dry after a toss in the hay or something?"

"With Sky Lark? As if" Weiss responded. "We never even went out on a date, but the little bitch still managed to convince himself that we were made for each other, and his asshole friends only encouraged him. I didn't need to be in CRDL long to know I had to get out of there before he tried 'persuading' me to be his girlfriend with a shotgun, so I took off the first opportunity I saw ".

"What's wrong with giving someone a gun as a gift?" asked Ruby. "I think its super romantic! I know if someone asked me out, I'd want them to give me as big of a gun as possible! Maybe a machine gun, or a bazooka!"

"She meant he was going to threaten her into going out with him" intoned Blake. "I'm sorry for what happened, Weiss. I've had the same happen to me on more than one occasion".

"Well, shit happens" Weiss said as she reloaded her recently emptied handgun. "What matters now is that I finally get the chance to kick the fucker's teeth in".

"That's the spirit!" said Ruby. "We may have lost the peace, but now we have the next best thing; war! So, Blakey, what are we up against?"

Blake adjusted her glasses, opened up her laptop, and started searching through her files on information about their latest rivals.

"CRDL is a mainly human criminal organization that specializes in car stealing, chop shops, illegal racing, and arms dealing. They control the industrial district and the western residential district of Vale" Blake said as she brought up the profiles of the four men they just left in the alleyway. "Like us, the gang is headed by four former Huntsmen; Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bonzewing, and Sky Lark".

"Oh, now I get the name!" Ruby said, snapping her fingers. "That's clever!"

"Wait, are those police files?" Weiss asked. "You were able to hack into their databases?!"

"You sound like you're surprised" Blake replied dryly. "Anyways, what would you like to hit first, Ruby?"

"Hmmm, how about the guns?" Ruby said. "If we take them away now, then that will make taking care of the rest of CRDL easier! Plus, Yang's birthday is coming up, and it'd be a great chance to get my gift shopping done early".

"I'm not so sure about that, Ruby. As much as I'd love a new Annihilator Mark II to add to my arsenal…" Yang said, adding a strategic wink to her statement. "…I think it might be best to start somewhere else".

"Awww, but why?" Ruby whined.

"Well, think about it, sis; what would you do if you thought someone was coming to take away your guns?" said Yang.

"Not my babies!" Ruby shouted, diving for a nearby pistol that she left on a table. "I'd never let that happen!"

"Exactly" Yang said as Ruby cradled her gun like a child. "I doubt Cardin give up his any easier".

"What do you suggest we do then?" asked Blake.

"Girl, I've dealt with men like these all my life, and if there's one thing I've learned, its where to hit them where it hurts" Yang explained. "If we can wound their pride, make'em feel like 'less of a man', then we can make them do whatever we want".

"Really? Sounds to me like someone we know" Blake said with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"What?!" Yang said, offended. "I am not at all like those arrogant jocks!"

"Yeah, right" Weiss said sarcastically. "You're one of the most macho women I know".

"Really?" asked Yang. "Prove it".

"You almost went on a rampage because some destroyed your favorite car" said Weiss.

"You once killed a woman for looking at one of your beers too long in a bar" pointed out Blake.

"And don't forget all those men whose arms you've broken while arm wrestling" said Ruby.

"Whatever!" Yang huffed. "My point is, if we can make the bastards mad, we can lure them into a trap!"

"That might be a good idea, but how are we going to get them that angry?" asked Blake.

"I think I have an idea…" Weiss said as she checked her phone, a sly smile creeping across her face.

* * *

"Man, this is so lame" Sky said as he worked on the engine of his large, blue sports car in one of CRDL's garages. "We've been at war with The Saints for over a week now, and nothing exciting has happened at all!"

"Well, what do you expect from a bunch of girls anyway?" Russel asked. "They just don't know how to fight; it's in their genes".

"Don't worry, bro, I've got something big planned" Cardin said, walking up to and patting his friend on the back. "You just stay focused on the big race tonight, alright? I've got a hell of a lot of money riding on you winning, you know".

"Pft, you doubting my skills, Cardin?" Sky replied. "I always win".

"Skills my ass" Russel said playfully as he kicked the wheels of Sky's car. "Last I checked, none of the pros used red Dust infused wheels".

"Well, last I checked, those races were for pussies!" retorted Sky. "Survival of the fittest is the only rule in this tournament, and if the others can't afford the latest gear, that's their problem".

"Hell yeah!" said Cardin. "Now get out there, and show them who the real top dogs in this town are!"

* * *

Weiss tapped her fingers impatiently across her table as she waited with Blake outside their hideout of Beacon Academy. Yang wasn't late yet, but the white haired woman had a suspicion that she would be.

Those fears were put to rest as Yang finally rolled up in an impressive looking red muscle car with black stripes, its loud engine confirming the massive power it had hidden under its hood. Yang brought the car to a screeching halt before turning off the engine and getting out to greet her friends.

"Behold, Princess; your new chariot!" Yang said with a bow as she presented Weiss with her new car. "Is it to your liking?"

"That depends" Weiss replied. "What's the horsepower?"

"Thoroughbred" Yang said, slapping the roof of the car. "This girl's the fastest combination of Dust and steel you can get on the market".

"Hmmmmm…it'll do" Weiss said after some thought. "Is it already loaded with guns?"

"Girl, you know it is!" Yang said, reaching in and taking out a revolver. "We've got enough ordinance in here to kill a small army".

"Good, because there's going to be one on that highway tonight" said Weiss.

"I see you didn't skimp on the accessories either" Blake said as she examined the interior of the car.

"Yep! Saints always cruise in style!" Yang responded proudly. "It's got HD radio, Wi-Fi, stereo, TV…"

"Where are the cup holders?" interrupted Weiss.

"…shit!" Yang cursed. "I knew I forgot something!"

"Hey, girls!" Ruby called out from within the school. "Come inside! I have the mission briefing ready!"

"Oh, this should be good" Blake said dryly as she and her friends started walking towards The Saints' meeting room in Beacon's cafeteria.

Inside, they found a very large table set up in the middle of the room with a large, circular toy racetrack resting on top of it. In the middle of the circle were miniature small buildings constructed out of toy bricks, and a few other miscellaneous toys lay off to the side of the track.

"Okay, so here's the deal" Ruby said as she picked up two toy cars, one black and one white. "The industrial district has this biiiiig highway that surrounds the whole area. It's supposed to be used for shipping huge amounts of stuff around town, but, at night, it's completely deserted.

"Every year, CRDL holds a massive race on this beltway that attracts underground racers from all over the world, and millions of Lien are bet on the outcome. Sky Lark, or someone else from CRDL, always wins though, but that changes tonight".

Ruby then picked up a red and a blue toy car and placed them both onto her little 'highway' side by side.

"Your job, Weiss, is to make sure that Sky and his pals don't win this race" Ruby continued. "We won't be able to line up at the starting line, obviously, so they'll all have a head start us. Think that'll be a problem, Weiss?"

"He'll need more than a handicap if Sky wants beat me" replied Weiss.

"That's good, but we don't need to win" interrupted Blake. "We just need to make sure that CRDL loses, preferably by blowing as many of them up as possible".

"And that's where I come in" Yang said proudly. "While Princess is busy driving, I'll use all the guns I packed in the back to blow away any punk that gets in our way".

"Exactly!" intoned Ruby. "Meanwhile I, represented by this dragon doll, will use my lightning speed to help take out any CRDL cars that Yang misses".

Ruby then pushed the blue car a little bit forward on the track before smashing her plastic dragon down on top if it several times, crumpling the toy road in the process.

"Any questions?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah" Weiss replied. "Why are you telling us all this? We already know the plan".

"Um, well, uh" Ruby stammered. "I just thought that if you guys had a visual-"

"You wanted an excuse to buy some toys, didn't you" said Yang. It wasn't a question.

"I don't know what you take me for" Ruby huffed, crossing her arms. "I was just being a good leader by making sure we were all on the same page, and I didn't want to bore you guys with a slide show. That's all".

"Sure" Weiss said sarcastically. "Whatever you say, boss".

"Come on, we still have a few hours before the race starts" Blake said. "Weiss should take her new car out for a test drive".

"I'm game" said Yang. "You wanna come too, Ruby?"

"Nah, I'll stay here and clean this stuff up" Ruby replied. "Have fun!"

Ruby waved as her friends exited back out the door they came in, leaving her alone in the former lunchroom. The young crime lord waited until she was sure that they were gone before picking her toy dragon back up and returning to the miniature city in front of her.

"What a wonderful, peaceful day here in Vale" the girl said in a male sounding voice. "Oh no! What's that?"

Ruby made loud stomping noises with her mouth as she slowly brought her red dragon over to the buildings.

"Oh no! It's Ruby-Ra! Run for your lives!" she said in mock terror.

"Rawr!" Ruby roared as she smashed her dragon avatar into the little toy buildings, sending plastic bricks flying in every direction as she shattered them to pieces.

"Boom! Smash! Ker-pow!" Ruby said, adding in her own sound effects.

"Oh god, someone, please save us!" Ruby said out of the corner of her mouth.

"No one can save you now, mortal" the woman/dragon said menacingly. "Prepare to die!"

"Noooooooooo….."

* * *

The deafening engines of several dozen cars could be heard on the highway above the industrial district as the racers all waited eagerly for their signal to start. The smoke stacks that surrounded them were mostly off for the night, but the fleet of cars more than made up for the missing pollution by spewing Dust exhaust into the air by the bucket load.

Not that the crowd that had gathered on the sides of the highway cared about this, however; they were all far too engrossed in their drinking and partying to notice. Men and women were downing beers left and right, some were taking body shots off one another, and several were making ludicrously large bets that most of them would soon come to regret. Only one woman, whose face was concealed by a dark black hoodie, seemed to avoid joining in the revelry.

"Alright everybody, settle down!" Cardin called from the top of Sky's car, which was parked at the front of starting line.

"Ladies and gentlemen…and especially the ladies" he said, winking to a nearby woman. "Welcome once again to the greatest race on Remnant; the CRDL Grand Prix!"

The crowd cheered enthusiastically at this announcement, clearly very excited to see the event they'd been waiting all year for.

"Now, I know many of you were afraid that we were going to cancel this competition because of our recent run in with The Saints…" Cardin said, eliciting a chorus of boos from the crowd. "Well, those people don't know what the hell they're talking about! CRDL is the toughest gang in Vale, and we do not back down! Let's get this show on the road!"

Cardin dropped down from the top of his friend's car and walked to the side of the road. He then took out a revolver and pointed it into the air.

"On your marks…get set…"

* * *

Weiss and Yang sat quietly together in their car in a dark alleyway as they waited for the race to start. After a few more seconds passed, Yang received a text from Blake that said "Get ready".

"Time to go, sweet cheeks!" Yang told Weiss.

"Are you ever going to stop giving me ridiculous nicknames?" Weiss asked as she started the engine.

"Of course!" Yang replied. "I can't live forever, you know".

Weiss drove through the streets of the Industrial district until she spotted an entrance to the industrial district beltway in the distance. She couldn't just drive onto it, however; CRDL had setup a manned roadblock in front of the entrance ramp to stop people like them from interfering with the race.

"You ready for this?" Weiss asked, her foot ready on the gas pedal.

"Hell yeah!" Yang said, cocking a shotgun. "It'll be a massacre! They won't know what hit them!"

"They'll all have guns too, you know" Weiss pointed out.

"And since when has that ever stopped me?" Yang said, cocking an eyebrow.

The roaring of engines overhead let them both know that the contestants had just passed by. In response, Weiss turned on the radio and soft, classical music started pouring out from the speakers.

"Hold on to something!" she warned before slamming on the gas pedal.

The red car started speeding down the street towards the makeshift barricade. The guards started firing on the vehicle once they spotted it, but Weiss was able to summon a glyph a short distance in front of the car, which blocked the shots. Then, once the muscle car passed through glyph itself, it accelerated at a nearly breakneck pace and smashed through blockade, tossing the opposing cars aside like they were plastic.

"Weiss, what the fuck!" Yang swore after recovering from the crash.

"I told you to hang onto something" Weiss said as she merged onto the highway behind last place. "It's not my fault if you busted a lip".

"No, I mean what the fuck are we listening to?!" Yang said, pointing towards the radio.

"What?" Weiss asked, confused. "It's just Wildenbruch".

"No, it's shit!" Yang shouted as she switched the station.

The new song started playing was a thumping rap number, its deep bass practically shaking the car with every beat.

"Now this is music to murder to!" Yang said before leaning out the passenger side window with her shotgun in hand.

The blonde haired woman took aim at the first blue car she spotted and shot out its left rear wheel, sending the car spinning out into a concrete barrier.

"Fuck yeah!" Yang yelled out into the cold night air. "That's what you get, punk!"

Yang was about to take a shot at another one, but her concentration was shattered by the sick rhymes coming from her car abruptly giving way to violins and cellos.

"Hey!" Yang shouted, popping back inside the car. "I thought we agreed that we were listening to my music!"

"Agree? You just changed the station on your own!" Weiss retorted. "I'm driving, and it's my car, so I get to play what I want!"

"There's no way I'm killing anything to this! It'll put me to sleep!" Yang said, changing the radio back to her station.

Weiss would have changed it back again, but she was interrupted by a blue car suddenly ramming into her left side.

"Dammit, we don't have time for this!" Weiss said, picking a handgun and shooting the opposite driver through his window.

"There is always time for good music!" Yang said as she leaned back out her window.

* * *

Ruby, meanwhile, was doing her part to thin out the competition. Using her semblance, she was able dash from car to car, plant explosive charges on each one, and then blow them up in a fiery explosion from a safe distance away.

Ruby thought watching all the cool explosions would be fun, but she wasn't enjoying herself nearly as much as she thought she would. Even with her super speed, keeping up with the racecars was quite difficult, and she was already feeling exhausted from all the running.

"Oh my gosh" Ruby panted as she sat, legs crossed, on the roof of one of the competing cars. "This is a lot of hard work!"

The red hooded girl then took out a water bottle and took several eager gulps from it, eager to replenish her rapidly dwindling supply of sweat. Her rest was interrupted by bullet suddenly shooting up from in between her legs and almost hitting her water bottle.

"Hold on" Ruby told the driver of the car. "I'll kill you in just a sec".

Ruby chugged the rest of her bottle as quickly as she could as the gangster inside continued making holes in the roof all around Ruby with his handgun. None of the shots hit their mark, however, as most of the man's concentration was on the road in front of him.

"Ah, that's better" Ruby said, tossing the plastic jug to the side. "Now, where were we?"

Ruby stood up, took out her own handgun, and started firing into the cabin of the car, shooting the driver through the top of the head and killing him instantly. Without anyone controlling it, the car rapidly started serving side to side before slamming into another car and nearly driving it off the road.

"Wow, thanks!" Ruby said to the man she just killed as she hopped over to the other car. "Who knew dead people could be so polite?"

Ruby then shot the woman in the next car before it too started sliding around the racetrack, and she hopped onto yet another car to destroy.

* * *

Back with Weiss and Yang, the two were still at war with one another over control of the radio. They were able focus on the competition when the other racers put pressure on them, but much of their time was spent bickering with one another.

"You see this aim?" Yang asked as she shot another CRDL driver through the head with an assault rifle. "That's how good I am when I'm in my groove! You don't want to ruin my groove, do you?"

"It's not my fault if you can't appreciate class!" Weiss said as she changed the station and swerved in between the burning wreckage of several cars.

"Just because it's rap, doesn't mean it's not classy!" Yang shouted back, hitting the radio back to her station with her foot. "These songs are written from the soul! They're true art!"

"I hardly see the artistic merit in songs entirely about men's butts" Weiss said, switching back to the classical music as bullets shattered her windshield.

"Hey! I happen to like butts, thank you very much!" Yang yelled in between bursts of fire.

"Actually, could you guys put it on the lullaby station or something?" Ruby said from the backseat. "My batteries are pretty low right now…"

"Ruby!" Weiss and Yang shouted in unison.

"What are you doing here?" asked Weiss.

"Just taking a little break" Ruby replied, yawning. "Using your semblance that much takes a lot of energy, you know".

"But what about the CRDL cars?" Yang inquired. "Did you take care of them all?"

"Most of them" Ruby said as she lay down in the back seat. "Except for the one…at the front…"

"Sky!" Weiss spat. "Think you can torch his ass with rocket launcher in the back?"

"Only if I get to listen to my station" Yang replied.

"Fine!" Weiss said, changing the radio back to Yang's rap songs. "But if you miss, I swear to god…"

Weiss then activated her semblance again and summoned another glyph, accelerating her car rapidly as she drove through it. And then she summoned another, and another, picking up speed far faster than the car was ever intended to.

"What the fuck is going on out there?" Cardin asked himself as he watched the carnage of the race through his binoculars at the finish line. "Oh shit, it's The Saints!"

The announcement caused much of the crowd that had gathered to start panicking. Some started streaming off a nearby ramp to the city below, while others frantically tried to find something to hide behind. One tried shooting at them as they approached the finish line in the distance, but that man received a swift punch to the jaw by Cardin himself.

"Don't shoot, you moron!" he scolded. "You might hit Sky!"

"Do you have a clear shot?" asked Weiss.

"Shhhh! I'm in the groove" Yang replied as she looked through the sights of her RPG. "Sorry dude, but, as much as I love asses, you're going to have to kiss yours goodbye!"

Yang pulled the trigger and the rocket took off towards its target. At less than two hundred yards from the finish line, the grenade collided with the back of Sky's car and sent it spinning forward through the air, eventually landing on its top a few seconds later and skidding to a halt in front of the finish line.

"Woo-hoo!" Yang called out as they ripped through the finish line and nearly hit Cardin in the process. "Eat our dust, assholes!"

Another car passed through the finish line a few seconds later, followed by another, and another. None of them were CRDL cars.

"Did you see that shit?!" Yang said as she sat back down in her seat. "That was so awe-"

"Shhh!" Weiss said, putting a finger over her friend's lips. "I think she might be sleeping".

Sure enough, Yang turned around and saw her sister sawing logs in the back seat, snoring almost as loudly as the rap song that playing over their stereo.

"Awwww" Yang cooed softly. "My little badass is all tuckered out!"

"Think we should turn off the radio now?" Weiss asked.

"Don't worry; if she slept through all that, I don't think we can do anything that could wake her" Yang replied.

She was right; not long after they crossed the finish line, CRDL was already on The Saints' heels and peppering the back of their car with fire. Weiss wasn't scared, though; she knew she could lose them in a few minutes in the neighborhoods down below.

"You know what? That was hella good driving you did out there" Yang said as she changed the radio to Weiss's classical station. "You've earned this".

"You're just saying that because you want to take a nap too, don't you?" Weiss asked in response.

"Hmph! I don't know what you take me for…"

* * *

"Hey man, are you okay?" Cardin asked Sky as the blue haired man pulled himself from the wreckage of his car.

"Those fucking whores!" Sky yelled and partially coughed. "They made us look like fools! We had so much money on this race!"

"Don't worry, they'll pay for this" Cardin said as he helped Sky to his feet. "Every bitch has her day, and those bitches just had theirs. I hope they enjoyed it because, in a few days, we'll make them regret that they ever said 'no' to us".

* * *

In the upper class district of Vale, Cinder Fall sipped lightly at a glass of wine as she looked out onto the city. The higher class neighborhoods were all at a much higher elevation than most of the rest of Vale, so she was able to look down on all of it from the comfort of her mansion. However, just because she was far away did not mean that she was not paying attention. A soft knock alerted Cinder to her secretary's arrival with some news.

"Come in" Cinder said, not turning around.

"Excuse me, Ms. Fall, but The Saints have made their first move against CRDL" Cinder's secretary explained as she entered the room. "Cardin's forces were soundly defeated".

"Thank you, but I am already well aware of this fact" Cinder said as she carefully eyed the fires in the distance. "Keep me posted on any further developments, however. We can't let The Saints claim victory too easily, now can we?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Looks like your info was good, Cardin" Dove said as he squinted through a pair of binoculars. "I can practically smell the goods from here".

Cardin and his three lieutenants had been staking out a Saints owned warehouse in the central agricultural district from on top of a nearby building for the last few hours, and what they had been waiting for had finally shown up as the sun began to set. Several large trucks with the logo of Purple Flower Shipping Company had just arrived, and were being let in one by one by a brunette Faunus woman, local drug dealer Velvet.

"What did I tell you?" Cardin said conceitedly. "There's at least ten tons of drugs in those trucks, and even more inside. That's enough product to make us billionaires, and put The Saints out of business if they lost it".

"That's good, because I could use a billion Lien gun right about now" Russel said as he continued reading through his issue of Weapons Magazine.

"You're not talking about those expensive Atleasian models, are you?" asked Dove. "Don't you know that they're all over priced pieces of junk?"

"No, they're not!" Russel said with an offended look on his face. "Check out this one; this baby fires poison bullets! Can you imagine how unstoppable I'd be with this?"

"Wouldn't the bullets probably kill them before the poison does?" asked Sky. "I mean, do you really need to stop a guy's heart if you just shot him in the head?"

"I like to make sure they stay down" Russel replied, returning to his magazine. "Besides, at least I'm not going to spend my cut on some fancy super car that The Saints are probably just going to blow up anyways".

"Hey, they just got lucky!" Sky retorted. "Besides, you know I have to have my wheels! Me without a car is like-"

"Like a bird without his wings" Cardin finished sarcastically. "We've all heard your melodramatic poetry before, Sky. I swear, you can be such a girl sometimes".

"No way!" said Sky. "I'm just as big a man as any of you guys".

"Oh yeah? Then prove it" said Cardin. "Let's call up our boys, go down there, and kick some ass!"

"Hell yeah!" Russel and Sky shouted in unison. Dove, meanwhile, just rolled his squinted eyes and continued staring down at the building in front of them.

"Alright then; let's do this, boys!"

* * *

Cardin and his friends, along with about three dozen gang members, swiftly left the building and entered the alley adjacent to the warehouse. Once they found a door inside, Cardin violently kicked the door down and stormed the building with his men.

"Freeze! Get your hands in the air!" Cardin shouted with a handgun in hand. There were only about five people inside, all of them unarmed, but he was more than ready to shoot any of them if they made the wrong move.

"Wait! Please, don't shoot!" Velvet pleaded, throwing up her hands. "Take whatever you want, just don't hurt us!"

"Now that's what I like to hear" Sky said as he and his men fanned out through the warehouse. Once they made sure that there wasn't anyone that they missed, they opened the back of each of the trucks.

"It's all here, bro" Russel called out as he admired the unusually tall crates inside of each vehicle. "We're going to be rich! It's a shame that there isn't any more, though".

"Yeah…or is there?" Cardin said while turning towards Velvet. "Where's the rest of the goods, bunny?!"

"I-I don't know that you're talking about" Velvet whimpered back. "This is all we have!"

"Bullshit!" Cardin said as he backhanded Velvet across the face. "The Saints store drugs in here all the time; I know you're holding out on us".

"I swear, this is it" Velvet said with her hand to her cheek and tears streaming down her face. "We don't have any more".

"I know you do!" Cardin shouted before punching Velvet in the other side of the face. "You just hid it somewhere in case the cops show up. Now tell us where it is!"

"I don't know, Cardin, maybe she forgot where she put it" Russel intoned teasingly.

"Yeah…maybe her freaky Faunus brain just couldn't hold in the information" Cardin said as he yanked on Velvet's long rabbit ears. "It all just goes in one ear, and out the other, and man, do you have big ears".

"Please…you have what you want…just leave…" Velvet begged.

"She's right, boss" Sky Lark said as he climbed into the driver's seat of one of the trucks. "We should get going before any of her animal friends show up to help".

"Fine, just a few more se-" Cardin said before being interrupted by his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. "Wait, hold on a sec. Hello?"

"Mr. Winchester" a regal voice said on the other end. "I'm so glad to speak with you again".

"Cinder?" Cardin said, confused. "How the fuck did you get my number?"

"Let's just say a little birdie told me" Cinder responded vaguely. "And another birdie told me you are about to acquire quite a large amount of illegal drugs".

"I'm sorry, Cindy, but you're nuts if you think we're gonna share any of it with you" Cardin replied. "We got here first".

"Did you?" said Cinder. "Tell me…what kind of product do you have in those trucks?"

"Uh…" Cardin stammered. "Actually, the the info didn't say…just that there was lots of it, and it was all very good".

"Oh, there's a lot of it" Cinder replied. "But I doubt you'll find it very good".

The gang leader's eyes suddenly widened as he put the pieces together in his head.

"Consider this a favor, Cardin" Cinder continued. "Have a nice night".

"It's a setup!" Cardin suddenly shouted to his gang. "Kill the bitch, and let's get out of here!"

"With pleasure" Russel said, taking out a curved dagger and thrusting it towards Velvet's stomach.

But the knife never hit its mark. Instead, Velvet halted the blade using only her bare hand, which was stopped from cutting her by a strong aura emanating from her palm.

"What the hell?" Russel said as he leaped back.

"Aww, it looks like you guys really do have at least two brain cells amongst yourselves" Velvet said, her meek demeanor melting away. "Come on out, girls! These lucky boys get to unwrap their presents early!"

Every gun in the room immediately pointed towards Velvet but, before anyone could pull the trigger, they were interrupted by loud pounding noises coming from the drug crates and the Purple Flower trucks beginning to shake violently.

"Surprise!" Ruby shouted excitedly as she burst out of her crate and opened fire on the nearest blue clad gangster that she could see.

* * *

About two hours earlier, while Cardin and his friends were spying on The Saints' warehouse, Weiss, Blake, and Velvet were busy spying on them from another nearby rooftop, though from a much more concealed position.

"Yep; they took the bait alright" Blake said while looking through a pair of binoculars.

"Shit" Weiss cursed next to her. "I was kind of hoping they wouldn't. Now we're going to have to be crammed into those boxes like packing peanuts".

"Don't worry; I remembered to drill some air holes" Blake said partly playfully.

"That doesn't make me feel much better" Weiss responded.

"I still say you should load the trucks full of bombs and then just watch the fireworks" said Velvet. "It's quicker, safer, and have you ever taken a toke while watching an explosion? Nothing else even compares, bra".

"We need to destroy all of CRDL, not just their leadership" explained Blake. "If this works, their entire organization will be destroyed from the inside out".

"Yeah, yeah" said Weiss. "We stowaway back to their main compound, have the rest of the gang attack their territory once we're inside, and then send CRDL's defense into disarray when we storm their base from within".

"And I get to be carrot in this trap" said Velvet. "Oh boy".

"Yeah, sorry about that" apologized Blake. "But we have to make it look as convincing as possible, and you're one of the most well-known dealers we have".

"Nah, it's cool, bra" Velvet replied. "Besides, I'm good at acting like the damsel in distress. 'Oh, please don't hurt me! Just take the drugs and go!'"

"Really?" Blake asked. "There's a good chance that they'll try to rough you up, even if you do surrender".

"Not a problem" Velvet said she took out a green pill and swallowed it. "With one of these babies, someone could write their name on my ass with a knife, and I wouldn't feel any pain".

"That's…oddly specific" commented Weiss.

"That was a wild night" Velvet replied nostalgically. "Besides, I'm a lot tougher than I look, you know, so I can handle myself if things end up going south".

"Is that you or the drugs talking?" asked Blake.

"Ha! I ask myself that question every day" Velvet giggled back. "Anyways, where's your boss? Wasn't she going to take part in our little stakeout?"

"She was, but Ruby and Yang are both running a little late" said Weiss.

"Hey girls!" Ruby's voice said from behind them, as if on cue. "We're here!"

Ruby and her sister were both standing in the doorway of the roof's entrance, and both of them were clearly hiding things behind their backs.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Blake.

"Well, we would have been here sooner, but…we stopped to pick up these!" Yang said before revealing a plate with several well-cooked steaks on it. "What's a stakeout of a stakeout without a little takeout steak out?"

Velvet laughed and Blake rolled her eyes, but Weiss didn't respond. At least, she did not respond out loud.

"You could throw yourself off the building, right now, and it'd be all over" Weiss thought to herself. "Just lower your aura, take a step, and you'd never have to deal with these imbeciles ever again".

"And I brought the hot sauce!" Ruby said, showing her friends the red bottle that she had hidden behind her back.

"Ruby, I thought I told you to not take that" said Yang. "You know you can't handle that stuff".

"Oh yeah? Watch this!" Ruby said as she determinedly unscrewed the cap of the bottle.

Once the cap was off, Ruby tentatively stuck out her tongue and inched it towards the mouth of the bottle. Then, once it was close enough, Ruby dipped her tongue quickly into sauce and just as quickly took it back out.

"See" Ruby said with tear running down her face. "I can totally handle it".

"Please" Yang said as she grabbed the bottle from her sister. "That wasn't even a taste".

Yang brought the bottle up to her lips and violently took a big gulp of the hot sauce.

"Ah, that hits the spot" Yang said, sweat beginning to form on her forehead. "You want some, Weiss?"

"No thank you" Weiss replied, putting up a hand. "I know where that's been".

"Suit yourself" said Yang, shifting her attention towards Blake and Velvet. "You girls wanna give it a shot?"

"I'm game" Blake said as she took the sauce and took a swig.

"I'll try anything once!" Velvet said enthusiastically once it was her turn.

"Whoo!" Blake said as she fanned her mouth. "That was a bit hotter than I expected. It's a good thing I brought a water bottle to the stakeout".

"Ha! And poor Ruby here couldn't even handle a drop" laughed Yang. "Face it, Sis; not everyone should play with fire".

Ruby puffed out her cheeks and took the bottle back from Velvet. The young crime lord wasn't sure when this became a competition, but she wasn't about to let herself lose so easily. With just a moment's hesitation, Ruby bought the pepper red bottle up to her lips and sucked down every drop that was left inside.

"Nothing to it!" Ruby said confidently as her friends stared in slack jawed awe. However, that lasted only a few seconds before Ruby's bravado swiftly disintegrated, and her face started lighting up red like a tomato.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" was all Ruby could manage to say as she fumbled for Blake's water bottle. The cool liquid only helped a little, but the redhead wanted as much relief as she could get.

"See! I told you so" Yang said gloatingly even as she patted her sister on the back consolingly. "You just can't handle your spices, Red".

"Oh shut up" Ruby said angrily in between hiccups and gulps of water

"Aw, don't get all crabby on me now" said Yang. "I'll tell you what; how about we go and get you a nice big milkshake to cool you down before we kill CRDL. Would that make you feel any better?"

Ruby's mood instantly brightened back up again, and she nodded her head quite gleefully.

"That's my little cop killer" Yang said sweetly while tussling her sister's hair. "Let's go, girls".

"Are you serious?" said Weiss. "We're going to put off taking over a third of Vale for some fucking milkshakes?"

"Come on, even you have to like milkshakes, Princess" said Yang. "The way their thick, creamy sweetness just melts in your mouth and sends shivers up your spine. It's practically heaven!"

Weiss tapped her fingers along her arm for a few seconds before giving into temptation.

"I guess we could stop for a few malts" Weiss said, trying to hide how much she was looking forward to it. "But after that, we come back and take out these felchers out for good".

"Please, as if those boys would ever be brave enough to try anything like felching" said Velvet.

"Felching?" Ruby said after a hiccup. "What's that?"

Weiss, Blake, and Yang's faces all lit up as bright as Ruby's as soon as their boss asked that question. They each tried to think of their own way to try and change the subject, but they were all beaten by Velvet, who was more than happy to provide a straight answer.

"'Felching', or 'eating glazed donut holes', is when you suck semen out of someone's asshole" Velvet joyfully, and bluntly, explained.

All four of the other women stared at Velvet in shocked silence for several seconds, unable to completely process what had just happened. Then, the silence was finally broken by Ruby slumping to the floor and letting out a long moan.

"I think I'm going to be sick" Ruby said, holding her stomach.

"Velvet, how could you?" Yang said as she tried her best to comfort her sister. "You defiled her virgin ears!"

"Eh, she had to find out eventually" Velvet shrugged nonchalantly.

"No I didn't" Ruby said in between heaves. "In fact, I wish I could forget that as soon as possible".

After a few more seconds, Ruby's gut finally gave out and she released the contents of her stomach all over the ground in front of her.

"It's alright sis, just let it all out" Yang told Ruby comfortingly.

"Oh god, it burns even more coming back up!"

Two hours, some nausea meds, and a few milkshakes paid for by Velvet later, and The Saints were all crammed into their hiding places and shipped into the warehouse to be 'stolen' by CRDL and taken to Cardin's headquarters in the industrial district. Unfortunately for them, things did not go as planned, so Ruby and her friends did what they did best; improvise.

"Surprise!" Ruby called out as she merrily leaped from her crate and starting shooting as many members of CRDL as she could spot.

The rest of The Saints still in the trucks followed their boss's lead and broke out of their cases as well. Weiss, Blake, and Yang, as well as over a dozen ruby clad gangsters, burst from their containers and into the fray, each of them armed to the teeth.

Most of Cardin's gang panicked at the sudden attack, but Cardin himself had managed to stay collected enough to come up with a plan of escape.

"Sky! Get my car and call for help! Russel, Dove, focus on the lieutenants! This one's mine" Cardin said as he menacingly approached Ruby.

Knowing that his gun would not do much good, Cardin tossed his pistol to the side and picked up a large, steel pipe that was lying on the floor instead. Ruby didn't seem to react to the obviously incoming threat, however, and continued firing at Cardin's men even after the hulking man was almost on top of her.

Cardin swung his heavy pipe down towards the young gang leader, but Ruby was gone by the time his makeshift mace hit the floor.

"Hey, can't you see I'm a little busy here?" Ruby said from behind Cardin as she gunned down yet another of his posse with her sub-machine gun. "Your friends aren't going to kill themselves, you know".

Cardin took another swing at the small girl, but once again she nimbly dodged out of the way in a flurry of rose petals.

"Now you're just being rude" Ruby said indignantly. "What did I ever do to you?"

Cardin could tell she was egging him on but kept swinging at her anyways. He wasn't trying to hit her, however; he was paying attention to the trails of rose petals she left behind when she activated her semblance, and tried to look for a pattern.

Finally, he saw his chance and stuck out his pipe right after Ruby dashed away with her semblance. A second later, Ruby's stomach collided at full force with Cardin's pipe, knocking the wind out of her and causing ruby to front flip onto the floor.

"Let's see you dodge th-" Cardin began to say, but was interrupted by something wet splashing into his eyes.

"I hope you don't mind if I spice up the fight a little" said Ruby, holding up her spare bottle of hot sauce.

"Oh god! My eyes!" Cardin said as he dropped his weapon and tried desperately to wipe the inflammatory liquid from his eyes.

"Shit!" Dove Bronzwing said once he realized what had happened. "Looks like the boss needs saving again".

Dove broke off his fight with Velvet and Yang and rushed to Cardin's aid, crashing into Ruby just as she stood up and took aim at Cardin's head.

"Hey, get off!" Ruby said as jumped away from Dove's charge. "What is it with you guys and interrupting my murder sprees?"

"Yeah, and he just left me hanging too!" Yang said as she sauntered up behind the squinting man cracking her knuckles with each step. "What do you say we teach him some manners, eh Sis?"

"Yeah!" replied Ruby. "Let's spank him good!"

Dove didn't say anything as he pointed his signature short-sword out towards the two women currently encircling him. It was hard to remain focused on both of them, especially with the pandemonium going on around them, but he needed to be ready for wherever the first the first strike came from.

The attack finally came from Yang, who tried punching Dove in the back of the head. He was able to block it with his sword, but this gave Ruby the chance fire off the rest of her clip right into the man's chest.

His aura was able to take it, but it hurt like hell, and it almost knocked him off his feet.

"What's the matter?" Yang said as she continued the assault. "Can't take the heat? That's okay; not everyone should play with fire".

"Hold him still, Yang" Ruby said as she tried to take aim with her newly reloaded gun. "I don't want to hit you too".

Right before Ruby could pull the trigger, a blue car suddenly sped into the warehouse, colliding with Ruby and sending her flying head over heels into some nearby empty boxes.

"Come on, guys! Let's move!" Sky shouted from the driver's seat window.

Cardin, who had managed to wipe enough sauce from his eyes to see again, jumped into car through the passenger side window while Russel and Dove piled into the back seat. Sky then expertly swung the car around and floored the gas petal, driving out of the warehouse as fast as the wheels could take him, all while Ruby's homies peppered the back of the car with bullets.

"God dammit!" Weiss cursed as she helped finish off the last remaining CRDL goons. "They got away! We were so close!"

Blake walked over to where Ruby had crashed and helped her leader to her feet.

"Are you okay, Ruby?" asked Blake.

"Sure; nothing a bandage or two won't fix" Ruby said as she dusted herself off. "I'm just sad that I won't be able to get another tattoo tonight".

"Hey, any day where we make a room full of corpses is a good day to me" said Yang. "You did pretty well out there today Velvet; I didn't know you could use your aura like that too".

"You'd be surprised how much you guys don't know about me" Velvet said as she took out an Ursa weed joint and lit with a lighter from her back pocket. "So, what's your plan now?"

"Well, I doubt we'll be able to lure then into another trap any time soon, and I think it is pretty clear full on confrontation isn't an option" explained Blake. "Even though we outnumbered them in terms of Huntsmen, they were still able to hold their own in a fight".

"Then what can we do?" asked Yang.

"Simple" said Weiss. "We pick them apart piece by piece, starting with the weakest link".

* * *

In an alleyway nearby, a woman with dark skin, red eyes, and short, mint-green hair watched as Cardin fled the warehouse with his friends. She was wearing white jeans, brown chaps, a belt wrapped twice around her thin waist, a low cut green tube top, and a sleeveless white over shirt that had a tall popped collar and a keyhole so large that it covered absolutely none of her medium sized bust.

"They made it out" the unknown woman said into her cell phone. "I think Cardin might have wet his pants, but he'll recover".

"That's good" replied the voice of Cinder Fall. "You did very well today, Emerald. This could have ended very badly for us".

"Well, as much as I love sneaking around and spying on girls like a teenage boy, are we ever going actually going to get our hands dirty in this war?" asked Emerald.

"Patience, my dear" Cinder replied. "We will make our move soon enough".


	16. Chapter 16

"Thanks for the lift, bro" Sky said as he exited Cardin's car. "I really appreciate it".

"Yeah, well, don't get used it" Cardin replied. "The whole reason we're here is so you can have your own set of wheels again".

"And what a set of wheels she'll be" said Sky. "If you thought I was invincible on the streets before, just wait until you see me in this baby! She's chopped from the best parts of the fastest cars in Vale. In this piece of art, there's no way I'll ever lose a race again".

"I don't know; I'm sure you'll find a way to fuck it up somehow" joked Cardin. "I'll see you back at my place, okay? And this thing better blow my mind when I see it for all the money you're spending on this thing".

"Oh, don't worry; she will" Sky replied before Cardin drove off.

Sky then made his way over to an abandoned looking building nearby and entered the chop shop that was hidden inside. The garage was quite messy inside, with the skeletons of stripped down cars and spare parts as far as the eye could see, and motor oil staining almost everything.

One thing, however, was completely spotless; a sleek, blue sedan with black flames painted on the side that was sitting in the middle of the shop. Its expensive new wheels shined brightly in the dim light of the garage, practically begging Sky to dull their sheen on the city streets. He couldn't see inside because of the car's tinted windows, but if the interior was even half as impressive as the outside, he'd be satisfied.

"She's all ready to go" said a blonde mechanic in a blue jumpsuit as she worked on something at a nearby workbench, her face obscured by a baseball cap. "How's she look?"

"She's gorgeous!" Sky said as he rubbed his hand along the hood of the car. "Can you imagine all the chicks I'll be able to pick up in this thing? It's going to be amazing!"

The mechanic couldn't help but smirk a little as Sky made his way to the driver's side door and reached for the handle.

"Well, luckily for you…" said the Blonde.

"…this car comes prepacked!" finished Ruby from the driver's seat as Sky completed opening up the car.

Before Sky could react, the young gang leader raised up an unlabeled spray can up to his head and let loose a noxious, green gas directly into the speedster's face. Sky tried to run away, but he was already feeling dizzy and simply started stumbling around the room. An extra dose of knockout gas from Yang, who had given up all pretense of being a mechanic, was all it took to make him collapse to the floor, unconscious.

"Nighty night!" called out Ruby. "Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

"Well, that went easier than expected" Weiss said as she exited the passenger seat. "He didn't even have his halberd on him".

"That's good" said Blake, emerging from her own hiding place. "Too much rough housing could have damaged the car and we don't want that to happen quite yet".

"Aww, look at him!" Ruby said as she stood over Sky's unconscious body. "He looks so peaceful! Like a big, cop killing baby!"

"Yeah, it almost makes me feel sorry for the poor lug" said Yang.

"Not me" intoned Weiss. "Now come on; let's get him suited up".

"Oh my gosh, I just realized something!" Ruby suddenly burst out excitedly. "This is going to be my first official makeover! This is going to be so much fun!"

"You can't be serious" said Weiss, crossing her arms.

"You know she is" replied Blake.

"Oh boy!" Ruby said as she clapped her hands together and ideas ran through her mind. "I'll go get some makeup! I'll be right back!"

* * *

When Sky Lark woke up about an hour later, he was sitting in the driver's seat of his new car in a dark alley and with a throbbing pain pulsing through his skull where he hit the chop shop's floor.

"Augh, my aching head. What did I drink last night?" Sky said as he rubbed his forehead. "Wait…what the hell am I wearing?"

Sky looked town and saw that he was wearing a very bulky and bright pink vest, with wires sticking out of it in every direction. On the right side of the vest a small clock flashed the numbers '30:00:00' back up to him in bright red text over and over again. On the left side was what appeared to be a tiny plastic bombshell with a cartoonish smiling face printed on it.

"Do you like it?" Ruby's voice said from a speaker inside the toy bomb. "I think it really goes with your eyeliner!"

"What the…" Sky said, looking at himself in his rearview mirror. The man who stared back was wearing bright red lipstick, pink blush, fake eyelashes, blue eyeliner, and his blue hair was tied into long braids that ran down his back.

"What the fuck did you do to me?!" Sky screamed down into his vest.

"I told you that you should have gone with pink instead of blue" said the voice of Yang.

"Aww, I'm sorry you didn't like your makeover" said Ruby, genuinely apologetic. "I was hoping to give you at least one more smile…"

"Fuck this!" Sky said angrily, wiping away his lipstick. "I'm out of here!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" said the voice of Blake. "Otherwise, your outfit might become even more explosive".

That last word caused Sky to stop dead in his tracks as he felt his heart jump into his throat.

"You didn't think that that vest was just for show, did you?" Weiss explained venomously. "That thing's packed with enough explosives to level a small building, and it will go off unless you do exactly as we say".

"Wh-what do you want me to do?" Sky asked, terror thick in his voice.

"What you've always done, Blue; drive" said Yang. "We've packed an even bigger bomb into the trunk, and all you have to do is drive it up to your buddy Cardin's place and drop it off".

"And don't bother trying to figure a way out of this" added Blake. "We're watching everything you do. If you try to call for help, disarm the bomb, disable the car's cameras, drive towards our territory or leave the vehicle, we will not hesitate to pull the trigger".

"Yeah, and to give you extra motivation, we put a little timer on your vest that will be counting down the whole time!" Ruby explained merrily. "If you don't make it to Cardin's compound in half an hour, then 'Ka-plow!' You'll be blown sky high! It's like a time trial in a video game, but even more intense!"

"What?!" Sky shouted as he looked at where he was on his car's GPS. "But the compound's clear on the other side of Vale! How am I supposed to get there in only half an hour?"

"You always said you were best driver in Vale" said Weiss. "Well, now's your chance to prove it. Your time starts now".

The little clock on Sky's vest began counting down from thirty minutes and, for a while, he just sat there wondering what to do. He wracked his mind for any way out of the situation that didn't end with him either dead or betraying his friends, but he couldn't think of anything no matter how hard he tried.

"Shit!" Sky cursed to himself as he gave up. He decided that he was going to play Ruby's game, at least for now, and reached to turn the car's keys and start the engines. Unfortunately for him, there wasn't anything in the ignition.

"What?!" he shouted yet again. "Where the fuck are the keys?!"

"That's not our problem is it?" Weiss asked mockingly. "You better hurry up and find them, though; only twenty eight minutes left".

Sky began to panic and started desperately searching through the car to try and find the keys, searching through the seat cushions, the ashtrays, the cup holders, everywhere he could think of, all while swearing up a storm.

"I know how you feel, Sky" Ruby said sympathetically. "I once lost the keys to my car, and I spent three full hours trying to find them. Turns out, they were in the glovebox whole time! Can you imagine how stupid I felt after that?"

The captive gangster tore open his glovebox as fast as he could, but only found another anxiety-inducing timer staring back at him inside.

"That's nothing" said Yang. "I once lost my keys even though they were right in my pockets! Granted, I was pretty wasted at the time, so that was probably a good thing…"

Sky quickly checked his pockets, but all he discovered was that The Saints had stolen his wallet while he was unconscious.

"I never have that problem, because I always put my keys in the same place; in the visor" said Weiss.

Sky pulled down the driver's side visor and, sure enough, the keys were there waiting for him. He then swiftly jammed one of the keys into the ignition and turned it.

"Got it!" Sky said triumphantly as his engine roared to life.

"Good job!" congratulated Ruby. "You better get going; only twenty five minutes left!"

Sky floored the gas petal of his car and rocketed out of the alleyway at full speed, not even bothering to honk at the pedestrians who were passing by at the time and running over three in the process. Sky didn't get a good look at any of them, but he definitely felt them as he crushed them beneath his wheels and blood spurted out onto the pavement.

"Man, don't you just hate speedbumps?" Ruby asked her friends casually. "They're so annoying!"

"I know, right?" said Yang. "It's like they exist just to get in your way when you're cruising around town. I'm a busy girl! I don't have time to slow down for that shit! That's why whenever I see one, I speed up! Plus, it's much more fun that way"

"Yeah, but cleaning all the blood and guts off your car afterwards is always such a pain" said Weiss.

By now, Sky could hear sirens in the air as he barreled through the streets of Vale, letting him know that the police were already on his tail. He didn't have time to get boxed in, so Sky found the nearest onramp to the highway he could and started making his way west as fast as his sports car could take him. The residential district soon passed by beneath his wheels, and tall apartment buildings around him were replaced by the towering smokestacks of the industrial district.

The police, however, were far from giving up on catching him. Sky might have been driving the fastest car in Vale, but that meant very little when he was constantly weaving in and out of midday traffic, so the police had plenty of time to catch up to him.

"Attention!" a policeman said through the speaker system on his cop car. "Pull over immediately, or we will make you stop by force!"

In response, Sky rammed his sports car into the police cruiser, causing it to spin out and slam into a concrete barrier on the side of the highway. Normally, Sky would have turned back to taunt them, but he was far too worried that the impact might set the explosives off early.

"Woo, bumper cars!" Ruby said excitedly as she watched the cop car crash through a camera. "This is just like my first kill".

"Oh yeah" piped in Yang. "That was the best birthday party ever".

"Wow, seriously?" Blake asked in disbelief. "Your first time was with a bumper car?"

"Yep!" Ruby said proudly as Sky continued to fight for his life. "Me and Yang's bumper car sessions can get pretty intense, and some poor guy got caught in the crossfire. We managed to blame it on the manager though, so we didn't get in trouble. You should have seen the way his neck was twisted, and the funny look on his face! I was almost up all night giggling about it".

"Do all your stories have someone be horribly maimed or killed by the end of it?" asked Weiss.

"Just the good ones" Ruby responded.

Sky, meanwhile, was finally putting some distance between himself and the cops, but he was running out of time. He only had five minutes now to make it to Cardin's fortified factory in the northwest industrial district,

"Tick-tock, Sky" said Weiss. "I guess you aren't as good a racer as they said you were".

"Shut up, you bitch!" Sky shouted angrily into the toy bomb on his vest. "I'm the best there ever was, and I'm going prove it!"

Some police officers were setting up a roadblock at an upcoming highway exit, but they hadn't expect Sky to show up so quickly and weren't ready yet. The blue haired gangster was able to expertly slip between two closely parked cop cars, not even scratching the paint as he skillfully slid less than an inch from each vehicle.

But, as fast and as skilled as Sky was, he couldn't outrun bullets and he started to hear officer's shots start bouncing off the trunk of his car. Each ping against the metal nearly gave Sky a heart attack, as he was terrified that they might cause the package inside to go off at any moment.

It wasn't a shot to the trunk that ended his journey prematurely however; it was a shot to one of his rear tires. The sudden blowout caused Sky to start spinning out and crash into a nearby building, sending up a plume of Dust and smoke as his engine began to stall. Sky himself was still fine, but the car was not going to be moving anytime soon and, even if it was, police cars were already quickly encircling the wrecked vehicle.

"Come out with your hands up!" one of the police officers shouted, his pistol aimed at Sky's head. He meekly put up his hands, but he knew that leaving the car simply wasn't an option.

"Aw, and you were so close too" mocked Yang. She was right; Sky could actually see Cardin's compound from where he crashed and could even make out some of his friends rushing to his aid. "Better luck next time! Oh, wait… there won't be a next time!"

"Please… just let me go" Sky said weakly, tears starting to form in the pits of his eyes. "I'll give myself up to the cops and you'll never see me again… just please-"

"Don't cry, Sky" interrupted Ruby. "You'll smudge your makeup! If you're gonna go out, you might as well go out in style!"

"Please, you call that style?" said Weiss. "I've seen two-year-olds do a better job at putting on blush".

"Hey, no fair!" whined Ruby. "That was my first time!"

"It's okay, Ruby" said Blake. "Your talents are just better suited for ruining faces, rather than improving them".

"Thirty seconds, girls" intoned Yang.

"Oh boy!" Ruby said over the sounds of her lighting a joint. "Move aside! I want to get as good of a look down there as I can!"

Sky looked up just in time to see Ruby and her friends watching the whole scene from a nearby rooftop, Blake's laptop sitting on a table nearby. The next and last thing he saw was his entire world being consumed by fire, which shot out and fried the officers and their cars around him. Those cars started exploding too, setting off a chain reaction that practically shook Vale to its very foundation.

"Oh yeah" Ruby said as she let out a puff of smoke. "Velvet wasn't kidding about Ursa weed and explosions. The colors were so pretty!"

"We should probably get going now" pointed out Blake. "This place will be absolutely crawling with Cardin's goons soon".

"Oh, alright" said Ruby. "I'll drive".

"Oh no you don't!" Weiss said fearfully. "There's no way I'm letting you play 'bumper cars' with my ride!"

* * *

"Hey, isn't that Sky's new car?" Dove asked as he looked out through a window in Cardin's compound.

"What?" Cardin asked as he walked over to where Dove was standing. "What are you…holy shit!"

A few blocks away was Sky's brand new car, but it certainly didn't look new. The windows were shattered, a tire was blown out, and the sides of the car were littered with bullet holes.

"I think he's in trouble" said Dove.

"Yeah, no shit" Cardin replied. "Come on! We have to get him before the cops put him in the slammer!"

Cardin and his crew took off down the streets as fast as they could, but it was already too late; the bomb in Sky's car exploded, incinerating one of Cardin's best friends in an instant right before his eyes. He dropped to his knees in shock and horror, unable to completely comprehend what had just happened. However, he was able to come back around long enough to notice one very important detail about the scene; The Saints driving out of a nearby alleyway and disappearing off in the distance.

"You fucking bitches!" the gang leader shouted, impotently throwing his pistol at the retreating car. "You want to play rough, huh? Fine! Let's play rough".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As always, be sure to let me know what you think of the story and the chapter in a comment!
> 
> Chapter beta-read by Mr. Stark357


	17. Chapter 17

It had been about seven days after the death of Sky Lark, and the war between CRDL and The Saints continued to rage on. Gunfights became a regular occurrence in the western residential district as the two gangs competed for control of Vale's human neighborhoods, with The Saints slowly but steadily taking control of the area.

Gang violence was the last thing on Blake's mind that day as she prepared to go out, though. She brushed her hair, made sure her makeup was right and double checked her purse to make sure it had everything she might need. Once she was sure that she was ready, Blake slipped on her heels and made her way to Ruby's bedroom.

Inside, a bald man wearing Blue clothes sat blindfolded and tied to a chair while Ruby Rose stood excitedly nearby. The young gang leader was holding a massive silver revolver in her hands that was at least six inches in length, and looked like it could punch straight through a tank.

"Okie-dokie; here's the deal" said Ruby. "We know that you know where Cardin's toy box of cool guns is, and you're not leaving until you tell us".

The man's forehead began to drip with sweat, but he refused to speak. The only thing that could be heard in the room were his terrified gasps as he wondered what the most infamous woman in Vale was planning on doing with him.

"Come on! It's okay to spill the beans sometimes" said Ruby. "I do it all the time! Granted, they're usually literal beans at the dinner table, but still…"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about" the bald man finally said out loud.

"Yay!" Ruby said as she clapped her hands together. "I was hoping you'd say that! Now we get to play a game!"

"A game?" the man asked in confusion.

"Yep! I call it 'Spin the Cylinder'" Ruby explained. "It's like 'Spin the Bottle', but way less gross".

The captive gangster then felt a small metal ring be pressed against his forehead as Ruby pressed the muzzle of her gun against his fragile skull.

"Say hello to Anastasia" Ruby ordered giddily. "Come on, you don't want to be rude, do you?"

"H-hello" the man croaked out.

"As you might have guessed, Anastasia here is a beautiful gun, but she's not just any gun" Ruby exposited. "This little lady is a revolver from back in the days when revolvers only had six shots. How people even lived back then is beyond me…

"Anyways, Spin the Cylinder is pretty easy to play. Anastasia has six chambers in her, and only one of them has a bullet in it" Ruby continued explaining. "I spin the cylinder, pull the trigger, and if you're still alive, you win! So, you want to play?"

"Fuck NO!" he hastily responded. "I don't want to play any of-"

"Shhh, it's okay" Ruby whispered comfortingly. "We don't have to play if you don't want to. All you have to do is tell us where Cardin's weapon warehouse is".

The man didn't say anything, and just sat there shaking in his boots.

"Wrong answer!" Ruby said merrily as she spun the cylinder of her gun and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked loudly, but didn't go off. "Yay, you did it! Want to play again?"

"No, please don't!" came the panicked response.

"Really? If you insist" Ruby said as she pulled the trigger again. "Oh wow, you're really good at this game! Are you sure you want to go again, though? There are only four chambers left…"

"I swear, I don't know anything!" the goon cried out.

"Okay, here comes round three!" Ruby said, pulling the trigger a third time. "And your brain's still there! Hey, if you avoid getting smooched by death, would you like to go gambling with me after this? I lost a lot of Lien to some homies, and I could really use your luck on my side…"

"Uh, excuse me" Blake interrupted as she finally spoke up. "Do you have a moment?"

"Oh, hey Blake!" Ruby said, looking up from her captive. "I didn't see you there. Of course! What do you need?"

"Nothing much" Blake replied. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out to hang with some of my friends for a while, so I won't be at Beacon for a few hours".

"Friends?" Ruby asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, my old coworkers from the Cat House" Blake explained. "We were going to meet down at the agricultural district today for some lunch".

"Ooh! Can I come?" Ruby said, completely forgetting about the unwilling third person in the room.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if you stayed here" Blake said as delicately as she could.

"What? But why?" whined the young gang leader. "It would be so much fun! We could braid each other's hair, play 'hot potato', I could find some shotgun shells to fry some burgers with…"

"I'm sorry, Ruby, it's just that my friends…" Blake said, hesitating for moment. "They're terrified of you".

"W-what!?" Ruby gasped. "But I'm so cute and adorable! How could anyone be scared of me?"

"Well, for starters, you drag people to your room, tie them up, put a loaded gun to their heads, and threaten to kill them unless they squeal on their friends" Blake pointed out.

"Actually, the gun's not really loaded" Ruby said in her defense. "See?"

Ruby pointed Anastasia towards the bound CRDL member and pulled the trigger yet again, but this time it was followed by a loud bang instead of a soft click. The blind man slumped over in his seat a moment later, dead from a shot to the heart.

"Oops" said Ruby. "Well, Spin the Cylinder is a dangerous game! He shouldn't have played if he wasn't prepared for the risks".

"Right" Blake said dryly. "Well, there's also the fact that you've killed so many Faunus in the last few months, many of whom my friends knew personally".

"Hey! Now that's just unfair!" Ruby complained. "I didn't kill them because they were Faunus. I killed them because they got in my way! I'm an equal opportunity murderer".

"Something tells me that my friends wouldn't find that very comforting" said Blake, clearly unconvinced with her boss's harmlessness. "I'm sorry, Ruby, but I'm going to have to insist that you stay here".

"Fine" Ruby finally relented. "But what if I need to do computer things and you're not here?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you can figure it out" Blake replied. "See you later".

"Bye Blake! Have fun!" Ruby said, waving as her friend left the room and left her alone with her dead hostage.

Once Blake was gone, Ruby sat down onto her couch nearby and opened up her laptop.

"Okay, Ruby, you can do this" she said as she began surfing the web. "Just place the order for the ammo you want and-ooh! It says here that I'm the site's one millionth visitor!"

Ruby clicked on the advert in question and a second later her screen was filled with a million different pop-up ads. She tried clicking out of them, but they just kept coming and coming, until eventually her screen froze altogether and her keyboard suddenly caught fire in her lap.

"Uh oh".

* * *

Blake arrived at a small park in the central agricultural district a half hour later, where three of her friends were waiting for her at a picnic table.

"Hey girls, sorry I'm late" Blake said as she sat down next to a woman with brown clothes, auburn hair, and large, beaver-like buck teeth sticking out under her top lip. "Traffic on the way here was murder".

"It's all good" replied the redhead with cat ears sitting across from Blake. "I'm just glad we finally get to see you again. For a while there, I thought you had literally become glued to your computer or something".

"Well, managing a gang as big as The Saints takes a lot of work" Blake explained. "So it's sometimes hard to find time off".

"Why are you still hanging around those guys anyways?" asked the black haired cat Faunus girl sitting diagonally from Blake. "I mean, I get that you wanted to get back at Roman and all, he was an asshole, but what's keeping you there now? If I were you, I'd run from those monsters as fast as possible".

"They're not all that bad" said Blake. "In fact, some of them can be really cool people once you get to know them".

Before she could continue, however, Blake was interrupted by the sound of roaring engines coming from behind her. She turned around and saw two red cars speeding through the park, tearing up grass and flinging mud through the air. Their obviously drunk occupants hooted and hollered as they drove recklessly through the park, forcing many terrified park goers to leap out of the way of their deadly wheels. Then, as fast as they appeared, the Saints vanished back down the streets of Vale, their drunken shouting still audible as they sped off into the distance.

"You were saying?" the redhead said contemptuously.

"They can be a little…careless at times, I'll admit" Blake said apprehensively.

"Blake, they do this every other day" said the other black haired woman. "Roman was a money grubbing bastard, but at least he didn't do anything like this".

"Hey, come on girls" interjected the beaver Faunus sitting next to Blake. "We came here to have fun, didn't we? I doubt Blake wants to sit here and talk about work the entire time".

"Yeah" Blake said, eager to change the subject. "Let's talk about something a bit more positive instead. How are things with you, Claire?"

"Well, besides you-know-who, things have actually been pretty great" replied the redhead. "My new apartment's actually pretty nice, I was able to buy that back massager I wanted, and I was even able to get tickets to the Sun Wukong concert this Saturday".

"You mean that rapper from Mistral?" asked Blake. "I didn't know you were into him".

"He's great!" Claire replied. "Sun is way more down to Remnant than most hip hop singers these days. I've got an extra ticket if you want to come too".

"No thanks, I've never really been into that kind of music" Blake confessed.

"Neither is she" the girl next to Blake said teasingly. "She just wants to go because she's a total groupie".

"Hey, at least I have a love life outside of Johns, unlike your sad beaver" Claire retorted.

"Oh, good one" the buck toothed Faunus woman said sarcastically. "I totally haven't heard that one a million times before".

Blake's friends' conversation was abruptly stopped dead in its tracks by the loud booming of a gun nearby. The bang of Dust was shortly followed by another, and another, until the air was filled with the sounds of gunfire and screaming. Faunus men and women streaming into the park from the nearby streets, running like their lives depended on it.

Blake calmly got up from her seat and intercepted a fleeing man by grabbing onto his arm.

"What's going on?" she asked him. "Are we under attack?"

"Yeah! From you guys!" the man replied angrily as he ripped his arm from Blake's grip. "The Saints have gone nuts! They're killing everyone in the farmer's market!"

Blake sighed loudly in response and removed her silenced pistol from her purse.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I'm going to have to leave a little early" Blake said as she made sure her gun was in working order. "I have a mess I need to clean up".

"I told you; those assholes are nothing but trouble" replied Blake's black haired friend. "Try not to get shot too many times".

Blake made her way over to the source of the commotion as fast she could, and what she discovered was not very pretty. Over two dozen human men in Saints' colors were blasting away at everything and everyone in sight, tearing the market to shreds. A dozen dead bodies littered the floor alongside ruined fruits and vegetables.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Blake asked one of the gangsters.

"Hunting!" the man replied as he raised his shotgun to Blake's head. "It's Faunus season".

He then pulled the trigger and fired directly into her face, but all the shots collided with was the shadow clone that Blake had left in her place. The real Blake appeared right next to him fired a shot with her handgun directly into his temple, killing him instantly.

"I'd hate to break it to you, boys, but behavior like this isn't exactly good for business" Blake explained to the hooligans in front of her. "Our public image is already pretty bad, and I doubt a massacre will stop the police from breathing down our necks anytime soon".

"Aw, we were just having a little fun!" whined one of them. "Just a few more kills, okay? It's not like there aren't already enough of these animals in this city already".

Blake rolled her eyes at the 'animals' comment but decided to try and talk them down one last time.

"Sorry, but playtime is over" Blake said, raising her weapon. "So just do us all a favor, and put your guns down now".

"How about we put you down instead?" another man said as he tried to hit Blake in the back of the head with his assault rifle.

The Faunus woman was as agile as a cat, however, and was able to dodge out of the way so quickly that she didn't even scuff up her bow. A few shots to the torso were enough to take him down, allowing Blake to move onto the rest of the mutinous Saints.

The rest were smart enough not to try rushing the former Huntress, however, and kept their distance as they began unloading their weapons towards Blake. She knew that even her aura couldn't handle such a torrent of gunfire, so she began ducking behind nearby food stalls to use as cover.

That cover was quite flimsy, which forced Blake to keep running from stall to stall as the Saints' gunfire tore the fragile wooden structures to splinters. Eventually, one of their shots resulted in a burst of red fluid to begin gushing from one of the stalls, prompting the gangsters to finally quell their gunfire.

"I think we got her, boys" the closest one said as he approached battered stall. What he found on the other side was not a dead body, however; it was several punctured cans of tomato juice.

"Not quite" Blake said, suddenly appearing next to him. "But your aim is improving".

"What the?!" the man in red gasped, panicking.

He tried to shoot Blake with his shotgun, but the Dust passed right through her fake body and struck the Saint standing behind her.

"Ouch" Blake said plainly, standing in between two more of her rebellious men. "That couldn't have felt good".

Both of the goons reacted quickly and tried to shoot Blake with their pistols, but all that resulted in was the two shooting each other in the face, leaving identical bullet holes in their fractured skulls.

Blake continued sending out shadow clones from her hiding place, each of them catching the crazed gunmen off guard and tricking them into shooting at least one of their comrades, which swiftly reduced their numbers by half.

"You guys aren't very smart, are you?" Blake asked, slightly bored as she set up the same trap for the seventh time.

"Don't worry" said a voice that sounded both near and far. "Not all of us have peanuts for brains".

Blake's control over her shadow clone was sharply cut off by the feeling of a rough hand wrapping around her throat. Her eyes snapped open and allowed her to see her attacker as he lifted the Faunus woman from her hiding place. The man had burnt orange hair, light skin, and was quite tall, over six feet in height. He was dressed very similarly to the other rampaging Saints, with the exception of one of Ruby's red bandanas tied around his mouth to obscure his face.

"It's just too bad you won't get to see how smart I really am" he said as he tightened his grip.

Blake's response came in the form of a strong kick the jaw, stunning her massive assailant and allowing her to break free from his grip and pick her handgun off of the road. The other rogue Saints opened fire on her as soon as she hit the ground, but she simply dodged out of the way and allowed the bullets to hit the man behind her again, hoping to take out the large thug in a way similar to how she killed the others.

But, much to her surprise, the man kept standing even after being shot several times, the bullets being stopped by the shimmering brown aura that protected his body.

"A Huntsman?" Blake thought to herself as she continued dodging bullets. "Since when did we recruit another one? Something doesn't feel right here…"

Unfortunately for Blake, the orange haired man recovered quickly and prepared to chase after her, massive rifle in hand. Right before he took off running, however, he felt a light tap on his right shoulder that stopped him in his tracks.

He turned around and saw another man with short, blond hair, light skin, and a long, fuzzy tail that matched his blond hair. The shorter man was wearing a loose and unbuttoned white jacket that showed off his hard abs, a gold chain around his neck, rolled up blue jeans with a white belt, red arm bracers, and black and yellow shoes. He also held a long wooden pole in one of his hands, taken from the wreckage of one of the destroyed produce booths.

"Excuse me" the blonde monkey Faunus said playfully. "I know you have your eyes set on that girl and all, but do you mind if I cut in?"

The bandana wearing thug tried to simply backhand the smaller man out of the way, but his blow was stopped by a surprisingly hard 'thwack'.

"Oh, so you want to dance with me too?" the blond said casually. "That's cool; I don't mind doing guys too".

The disguised Saint tried opening fire on his shorter opponent, but he just ducked under the man's barrel and wrapped his tail around the gun, yanking it out of the larger man's hand. The bandana wearing man persisted though, launching powerful punches to try and knock the blond's block off. The shorter man didn't seem worried at all, and merely yawned as he nimbly dodged each of his enemy's blows.

"You call that dancing?" laughed the blond. "I guess it's true what they say about humans. Where's your rhythm? Your passion? Come on, my grandmother has better moves than you! And she's part tortoise!"

"Who is this guy?" Blake thought to herself as she continued killing each of the rebellious hoodlums around her. "He seems so familiar…"

The fight continued for several minutes, with the blond distracting the bandana wearing Huntsman while Blake fought off the other Saints with her pistol. The Faunus man wasn't doing much damage against his opponent's thick aura with just a wooden staff and realized that he would need some help to take him down.

He tried signalling Blake for some help but all that did was give his opponent the chance to launch an uppercut that nearly took off the blond's head.

"Whoa! Easy big guy, I know I'm tender and all, but I bruise like a banana" the monkey faunus said as he laughed off the close call. "You don't need to pound me that hard".

Blake was still able to see that her new friend was in trouble though, and knew that she needed to come to his rescue as soon as possible. Glancing back and forth from her firefight, she soon came up with an idea.

Using her shadow clones to distract the Saints, the black haired woman was able to slip into the shadows and begin running stealthily from cover to cover. Using the food stalls to mask her presence, Blake worked her way towards a grenade that was lying on the belt of one of the many dead Saints that was lying in the streets.

Her pineapple shaped produce firm in hand, Blake made her way behind the Huntsman and fired a few shots from her silenced pistol to draw his attention. When he turned around, he was met with a shadow clone holding a pistol standing in her place, which he then furiously attacked.

While the gigantic brunette was busy trying to box the ghost in front of him, Blake quickly threw the Faunus man her grenade and nodded subtly before returning back to finish off the last of the Saints.

With only a devilish smile in return, the blond used his staff to hit the back of his opponent's knee, to knock him off balance. The tall man tried to strike back as quickly as he could, but the blond was already several feet away.

"Think fast peanut brain!" the Faunus man said as he chucked his staff towards the bandana clad Saint's head.

His opponent side stepped the staff and grabbed it midair with a hidden smirk.

"Ha! I told you I didn't-" The Huntsman stopped mid-sentence as he noticed the grenade that was slipped into his shirt pocket. When he looked back up, the blond was whistling casually as he twirled the pin around his middle finger.

The massive man tried to take the grenade out of his pocket and throw it away, but it exploded in mid-air in front of him, forcing him to take the full brunt of the blast. When the smoke cleared, he was still alive, but on his knees with his dim aura finally dissipating into nothing.

While watching his opponent breathe heavily in pain, the blond Faunus took notice and a sly smirk came onto his face.

"Aw, tired already? Why don't you take off your mask and relax a little? Oh! I know!" snapping his fingers in realization. "It's because you're shy, isn't it? It's okay, we're all friends here. I'll even help!"

"Hey! Cut it out!" the orange haired man yelled as he blocked his opponent's attempts to unmask him. "Hands off!"

"Fine, if you say so" the Faunus man relented putting up his hands.

The blond's tail had other ideas, however, and snuck around the two of them to tap the bigger man on the shoulder. This distracted the thug long enough for the blond to grab onto the taller man's bandana and rip it off, revealing the face of Cardin Winchester.

"Whoo! Maybe you should have kept the mask on!" the Faunus man said mockingly. "Not even a mother could love a face that ugly".

"You" Blake said as she finished off the last of the other fake Saints. "I should have guessed that you were behind all this".

"Yeah, well, too little, too late, sweet cheeks" said Cardin. "My work here is done!"

Blake raised her gun to try and finish Cardin off, but stopped when she heard the familiar sounds of roaring engines fast approaching her from behind. Blake had just enough time to throw herself out of the way of an incoming red car, which flew past her and slammed to a halt once it was close to Cardin.

"Enjoy the fireworks!" Cardin said as he limped into his getaway vehicle and sped away with his middle finger high in the air out his window.

Blake tried shooting out the car's tires, but her shots just left dents in the disguised CRDL car as it escaped into the distance, leaving her alone with blond man that came to her aid.

"Dammit, he got away" Blake cursed lightly under her breath.

"Hey, look on the bright side" said the blond. "It could have been worse".

At that moment, a building on the other end of the street, towards where Cardin's getaway vehicle came from, exploded in a blast of fire and flame, sending out a shockwave that nearly knocked Blake and her new friend off their feet. This not only sent a plume of smoke and ash into the air, but it also covered the entire neighborhood in something Blake did not expect.

"Rose petals" Blake said as she picked one of the leaves off the ground. "Something tells me my job is about to get a lot busier now".

"Guess I spoke too soon" the monkey Faunus said as he dusted himself off. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" said Blake. "Thanks for helping out, Mr…"

"Sun" he replied. "Sun Wukong".

"The musician?" Blake said with disbelief obvious in her voice. "I wouldn't expect to see someone like you in a neighborhood like this".

"What can I say?" he replied. "I heard the food here was pretty good, so I stopped by for a quick snack. It's a shame can't eat any of it, though".

"Well, there's no sense in letting it all go to waste" Blake said as she picked an apple off of a dead corpses, wiped the blood off with her sleeve, and took a bite out of it. She continued chewing on her piece until she noticed the slack jawed look her new friend gave her as she ate.

"What?" asked Blake. "Is something wrong?"

"Wow… just… wow" Sun said, amazed at what he just saw. "That's so hardcore!"

"We just killed twenty armed men in cold blood, and me eating a slightly dirty apple is what's hardcore?" said Blake.

Police sirens began filling the air before Sun could respond, however, letting them both know that the area would be swarming with cops in just a few minutes.

"I think it would probably be best for both of us if we made ourselves scarce before the authorities arrive" said Blake. "It was nice meeting you Sun".

"You too!" Sun replied, adding a wink to the end of his sentence. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure" Blake said as a smile crept onto her face. "See you around".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter of the story, and that you let me know if you did or didn't in a comment!
> 
> Chapter co-written by Mr. Stark357


	18. Chapter 18

After fleeing the scene of the massacre, Blake made her way back to Beacon as quickly as she could. She knew the fallout of what just happened was going to hit very soon, and was determined to let her leader know as swiftly as possible.

"Ruby, we need to-" Blake began to say as she opened the door to Ruby's bedroom, but cut herself off when she saw devastated state that the room was in.

Almost the entire area was scorched black and burned, as if a flaming tornado had sped through the room, with a completely demolished laptop sitting in the center of it. Ruby and Yang stood nearby with fire extinguishers in their hands and exhausted looks on their faces.

"What happened here?" Blake asked, already partly regretting it.

"Well, to make a long story short, I learned today that firewalls don't involve any actual fire" Ruby replied with a slight cough."What do you need, Blakey? Something wrong?"

"Perhaps I should just show you" Blake said as she walked over to Ruby's TV, which was one of the few things still intact in the room. "I have a feeling the news is already talking about it".

"And now, a Channel Five special report; 'Terror on the Streets' with Jane Valderamo" a male newsanchor's voice said as the television screen flickered to life. "We now join her live from the field".

"Thanks, Frank" Jane replied as the camera switched over to her. "I am reporting from the agricultural district's famous 'Nature's Bounty' farmer's market, where the infamous street gang, The Saints, launched a deadly and shocking attack less than an hour ago".

The area around the anchorwoman was an even bigger mess than Ruby's bedroom with dark ash, bright red rose petals, ruined produce, and copious amounts of blood littering the ground. Police could be seen putting corpses into body bags as the reporter continued to speak.

"They were eventually fought off by the locals, but not before claiming the lives of over a dozen innocent Faunus men and women" Jane continued to explain. "There is also evidence to suggest that these weren't just the random actions of low level street thugs".

The black haired news reporter knelt down of camera for a moment and picked up one of the many red leaves that were scattered all over the neighborhood before returning to the camera.

"These rose petals, which are left behind whenever The Saints' leader uses her semblance, prove that Ruby Rose herself was at the scene of the crime, and personally helped commit this atrocity. We have yet to receive an official police res-"

"Don't worry, Jane, you won't wait any longer" interrupted Police Chief Pyrrha Nikos as she entered the shot. "The Saints were always a menace, but this time they went too far. If you are watching this, Ruby Rose, then I want you to know that I will personally hunt you down and bring you, and your friends, to justice. That is all."

"Oh my gosh…she said my name!" Ruby said, blushing hotly. "This is like a dream come true!"

"You know she said it in the middle of a death threat, right?" asked Yang.

"It's okay, most of my dreams involve those" answered Ruby.

"What the hell is going on?" Weiss asked as she stormed into the room behind them. "I'm getting calls and texts from all over the place about people being arrested or leaving the gang. What did you do this time, Ruby?"

"I know this is going be hard to believe, but Ruby is completely innocent. For once..." Blake explained. "Cardin killed a bunch of Faunus civilians and made it look like we were responsible".

"Oh, is that it?" Ruby asked. "Then let's just explain to everyone what really happened! Problem solved as easy as pie".

"Something tells me that that's not going to work…" Yang said as she scratched the back of her head.

"What? But why not?" said Ruby, confused.

"It's like I said earlier, we're already known for wanton violence and destruction, so I doubt many people would believe us even if we tried to play innocent" said Blake. "We're going to have to deal with the consequences of this whether we want to or not".

"And what exactly would those be?" inquired Yang.

"Well, increased police pressure for starters" replied Blake. "We'll also have lower revenue from the customers that were scared away from our businesses, and we'll have a much harder time convincing people to join The Saints. In fact, I'd be surprised if we still had a single Faunus member after tonight".

"Does...that include you?" Ruby asked nervously.

For few moments, Blake genuinely thought about leaving the gang and starting a new life. That was, until she looked into her leader's eyes. The young Saint's eyes were wide and frightened, like a pleading puppy's. There was no way she was going to hurt one of her best friends when she was looking at her like that.

"Don't worry, Red, I'll be here as long as you are" Blake finally answered.

"Yay!" said Ruby, her mood shifting to cheery instantly. "Gang hug!"

Before the black haired woman even knew what hit her, she was entrapped by the fast moving red blur that was Ruby Rose, and was lifted off the ground in her arms. Yang tried to join in too, but just ended up crashing into them and knocking them to the floor. This caused them to become completely covered in the ash that coated the floor, which made them immediately start breaking out into coughs.

Those coughs soon gave way to laughs, though, as they started tossing the ash of Ruby's destroyed bedroom around at each other like it was snow. Their outfits were very quickly ruined, but none of them cared as they covered each other head to toe in the grey powder.

"Well, as touching as this all is, we still need to come up with a plan to deal with all this" Weiss said with her arms crossed from a safe distance from the soot.

"Aw...curse you, logic! Always making my life miserable" Ruby said as she dusted herself off. "Where should we start first?"

"Well, bringing our numbers back up will take time, and there's no real controlling public opinion of us, so I vote we focus the one thing, we can take care of right now" argued Weiss. "Pyrrha's incorruptible, but her replacement might not be. Hell, we might even be able to get them to pardon all the Saints that were locked up today if their spine is weak enough".

"Replacement?" asked Yang. "I didn't know she was retiring".

"Neither does she" Weiss said, unholstering a pistol and cocking it. "But she's about to find out the hard way".

"No, don't!" Ruby shouted desperately. "I mean, uh…killing her will just make people's view of us even worse! Whacking her might solve one problem, but it'll make our others ten times worse!"

"Damn it, Ruby, this isn't the time for your stupid-" Weiss said before being cut off.

"No, Ruby's right" interjected Blake. "Assassinating Pyrrha will just validate everyone who thinks we really did carry out that massacre. But, if we get public opinion back on our side, then the police pressure will let up on its own".

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Weiss asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I think I know just the person to talk to…"

* * *

A week later, Yang and Blake found themselves backstage at the large amphitheater where Sun Wukong was performing his latest concert. Yang chatted on her cell phone while Blake showed a security guard their well forged backstage passes.

"Okay, Ruby, we're here" said Yang. "Are things okay on your end?"

"Yep!" the leader of the Saints replied on the other end. "How about you? I've never been to a rap concert before! What's it like?"

"Packed, with lots of drunk and high people everywhere" Yang replied as she peered out into the crowd. "My kind of party! It's a shame you couldn't make it, though".

"Nah, it's all good" Ruby merrily replied. "Besides, you won't even be murdering anyone while you're there, and you know I never pass up an opportunity to beat your kill count".

"I don't know, I'm sure I can find at least one stoned douchebag who deserves to have a foot shoved up his ass" Yang said jokingly. "You never know what might happen".

"Come on, Ruby, we're almost there" Weiss's voice said in the background of the call.

"Sorry, Yang, I gotta go now" said Ruby. "I'll see you later!"

"Good luck!" Yang said before hanging up and pocketing her phone.

"Come on, I think Sun's taking a break now" Blake said as the guard moved out of the way to let them pass.

The blond monkey Faunus had just finished his first set of songs and was sitting in a chair with a bottle of water.

"Oh, hey, it's you" Sun said as he saw the two women approach him. "How's it going?"

"Well, I haven't been shot at in the last few days, but things could certainly be better" Blake replied. "Actually, we came here to ask for some help".

"Okay, shoot. What do you need?" Sun said, leaning back in his chair.

"You know that The Saints didn't actually kill all those Faunus last week, right?" asked Yang. "Well, unfortunately, not everyone in Vale is on the same page we are, and it's been hurting our reputation pretty badly".

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" asked Sun. "I am just one witness, after all, so I doubt my testimony will do any good".

"Don't worry, we've already thought of that" Blake replied as she reached into her purse and took out a red bandana with roses printed on the sides.

"What's this?" he said, taking the rag out of Blake's hand.

"It's one of our leader's bandanas" Blake explained. "You're quite popular here Vale, you know. If you wear this and some other red clothes during your concerts, then we should start getting some public goodwill again, especially among Faunus. What do you say?"

"I don't know about this" Sun said apprehensively.

"Come on! You're a rapper, right?" Yang pointed out. "Just think what being affiliated with an actual gang will do for your street cred!"

"Yeah, but it also might cause my record label to panic and drop me like I started playing bad country songs" Sun retorted. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to help you guys, but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk".

Blake tried not to show her disappointment, but Sun could see it in her eyes. Even though it was against his better judgement, Sun knew he wasn't going to let her walk out of there feeling let down.

"I'll tell you what" Sun said as he put the rag into one of his pockets. "I'll think about it, and let you know after the show, okay?"

"Yeah… I'd like that" Blake responded.

"Good!" Sun said contently. "Feel free to enjoy yourselves back here in the meantime. Now if you'll excuse me, Mother Nature's calling collect, and I can't keep her on voicemail forever".

The blond monkey Faunus then walked over to a nearby bathroom and locked himself inside, leaving the two women alone backstage.

"So much for your ace in the hole, huh Blake?" Yang said, leaning back against a large set of speakers.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can work something out" Blake replied. "Maybe he could write a song or two glorifying the gang, or make fun of CRDL in an interview…"

"Or, at the very least, he can help a certain black haired Saint relieve a little stress" Yang said, moving her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" Blake said, trying once again to maintain her cool and professional demeanor.

"Ha! Don't even try to play dumb, girl" Yang laughed. "Anyone with half a brain could tell you want to get into his pants worse than Ruby wanted into dad's cookie jar. You probably came up with this whole idea just so you can meet him again, didn't you?"

"No! I mean… it certainly played a part in it" Blake said, embarrassment starting to shine though. "But that doesn't mean we're here for anything other than business".

"Sure, whatever you say Blake" Yang said with a wink. "Just be sure to use protection when you're doing your 'business'. We can't afford to have a little mini-Blake running around using Ruby's grenades as pacifiers".

Blake was about to issue another retort when Sun's bathroom door abruptly reopened and the blond rapper finally reemerged.

"Whew, glad that's over with" Sun said as he shut the door behind him."I hope neither of you were planning on using that, because it needs a while to air out".

"Don't worry, it's been a whole two weeks since Blake last wet herself, so-" Yang began to say, but was cut off when Blake delivered a painful jab to the blonde's stomach with her elbow. "Oof! I mean, we'll be just fine".

"Alright then, it's time for the Sun to rise again" Sun said as he made his way back towards the main stage. "Enjoy the show!"

"Jeez, what was that for?" Yang said once she was sure Sun was out of earshot. "It was just a joke".

"Yeah, but he might not know that" Blake said back. "He could take it seriously".

"Oh yeah, and we wouldn't want your 'business' partner thinking you're gross, huh?" Yang teased.

"For the last time, I don't plan on our relationship being anything other than professional" Blake said as firmly as she could.

"If you say so" Yang said playfully. "Anyways, being backstage is nice and all, but what do you say we go down to the crowd and enjoy this party the way we're supposed to; drunk out of our minds and dancing like like our asses are on fire!"

"I don't know" Blake replied. "I don't particularly like the idea of a thousand strangers' bodies rubbing up against me".

"Yeah, it's gross, but that's what makes it so fun!" Yang said, slapping her friend on the shoulder. "Come on, just listen to everyone out there! They're having a great time, and you would too!"

Blake took a moment to try and hear the wild cries of the crowd outside, but the shouts she heard sounded much more panicked than she anticipated. Sun's rap music was still blaring loudly, but Blake could hear frightened gasps and pleas for help even through the pumping bass.

"Actually, it doesn't sound like they're having much fun" Blake retorted before peaking out to Sun's performance.

She looked out just in time to see a dozen armed men dressed in red climb up onto the stage point their guns towards Sun while his backup dancers all panicked and ran off. Leading the group of 'Saints' was Cardin Winchester himself, armed with a shotgun and wearing the exact same disguise he used to attack the farmer's market the week beforehand.

"Not this again" Blake said as she uncovered her hidden handgun. "Sorry, Yang, but it looks like the party's over".

"Are you kidding?" Yang asked as she cracked her knuckles. "Looks to me like it just got even better".

* * *

It was dark and foggy that night out on the open sea between Vale and the island of Patch. A large and lone grey prison ship served as the only source of light for miles as it slowly trudged its way west towards Patch Prison, the soon to be home for the dozens of inmates it carried onboard. Unbeknownst to all of them, however, a small speed boat tailed behind them carrying two women who intended to stop the ship from ever reaching its destination.

The two gangsters aboard the small ship were both obviously dressed for swimming, though one was obviously better prepared than the other. Weiss was clad in a normal black diving suit with goggles on her forehead, sub-machine gun strapped to her thigh, and an oxygen tank resting on her back. Ruby, meanwhile, was wearing what appeared to be a red one piece swimsuit that looked more appropriate to a high school pool, goggles with a snorkel tucked into the strap, oversized red flippers on her feet, and a circular duck floatie with a pistol tucked into the side around her waist.

"Come on, Ruby, we're almost there" Weiss said as she steered her boat through the sea's dark waters.

"Sorry, Yang, I gotta go now" Ruby said into her cell phone. "I'll see you later".

Ruby hung up her phone as Weiss cut the engines and the speedboat slowed to a stop.

"Hey, what gives?" Ruby asked as looked at the silhouette of the prison boat in the distance. "We're nowhere near that thing!"

"We can't afford to let them see us coming and calling for help, so we're going to have to swim the rest of the way" Weiss explained. "Come on, let's get in the water".

"Yeah, about that…" Ruby said nervously. "I kinda, sorta...can't swim".

"What!?" Weiss shouted furiously. "You waited until we're out in the middle of the goddamn ocean to let me know this?"

"Well, I didn't think that this was going to be a stealth mission. I thought we'd be going in guns blazing, and you know what they say; 'a blazing gun is a happy gun!' Isn't that right, girl?" Ruby said, petting the handle of her pistol.

"Then why did you think I told you to put on a swimsuit?" Weiss asked incredulously.

"So we can look cool, duh" Ruby said, striking a quick pose in her lame outfit.

"Ugh!" Weiss moaned, grasping the bridge of her nose. "That's fine, we weren't actually going to be swimming anyways".

The white haired woman then knelt down and picked up what appeared to be a large black fan with a handle on top and attached to a long plastic tube.

"This is a diver propulsion vehicle, or DPV" Weiss explained as she held up the device. "It'll make sure we get to ship before our limbs fall off from exhaustion. Just hold on to my hand and we should make it there just fine".

"Okay, if you say so" Ruby said as she sat onto the side of the ship. "But in case I drown, tell Yang that there needs to be at least three big explosions at my funeral".

"Oh, you'll be fine, you big baby" Weiss said as she affixed her oxygen mask. "Now let's get going before any of our friends get too institutionalized".

Ruby then grabbed onto Weiss's hand and the two slipped into the cold ocean water of Vale's coastline. The DPV did a good job at pulling them quickly and quietly through the sea, with Ruby's snorkel remaining just above water the whole way there.

The young gang leader tried to look around the ocean to help pass the time, but her gaze was only met by the murky depths of the ocean around her. That was, until they reached about halfway to the prison ship.

At first, Ruby thought it was just another glimmer in the water, but that changed as it started to get closer and closer. Soon, she was able to make out the silhouette for what it really was; a massive great white shark barreling towards them. It's eyes were pitch black and soulless, its skin covered in ragged battle scars, and Ruby could see the glimmering of its dozens of razor sharp teeth even through the briny ocean waters.

Ruby didn't act frightened at the sight of an incoming predator, however. Instead of panicking or warning her friend, the young redhead merely waved at the gigantic shark like she spotted a friend walking by on the street.

Weiss could feel Ruby moving around behind her, however, and turned around to see what was wrong. When she saw the monster that was swiftly catching up behind them, the white haired girl kicked her DPV into high gear and made her way to the prison boat as swiftly as she could. When they finally reached the side of the prison boat, Weiss couldn't pull herself and Ruby out of the water fast enough.

"Weiss, did you see that thing?" Ruby said excitedly as Weiss forced her to start scaling the side of the ship. "It was so cool!"

"Yes, but I'd prefer it if we didn't get to see its insides as well" said Weiss, the shark's dorsal fin circling below them. "Move it!"

"Aw, she's just being friendly, Weiss" Ruby said as she reluctantly began to climb.

"'She'?" Weiss asked with her eyebrow cocked. "You can tell?"

"No, but I can feel it, Weiss" Ruby replied. "She's definitely a girl!"

"Hey, what's going on here?" a guard suddenly asked from up above them.

Despite being caught by surprise, the young gang leader reacted quickly enough to punch the man's lights out before he could call for any help. He then slumped onto the railing he was standing over and Ruby promptly grabbed him by the collar and threw him off the side of the boat.

"Here you go, little girl!" Ruby shouted down as the guard plummeted down to the ocean below. "Enjoy your snack!"

"Ruby, be quiet!" Weiss scolded her leader as they both brought themselves onto the deck. "They can still call for help, you know".

"Right" Ruby replied, bringing her voice down to a whisper. "Where do we start?"

"Well, as long as you don't find a way to fuck this up, and I'm sure you will, then this should all be rather simple" Weiss explained as she unsheathed her sub-machine gun and cell phone from the pouch on her thigh. "All you have to do is clear out all the guards on the upper decks and take the captain hostage while I search the lower decks for the Saints we came here to rescue. Then once we're done, we'll sail the ship back to Vale before anyone notices and take everyone back to Beacon.

"Aww, why can't I go down and save them?" Ruby whined. "They're my homies too, you know".

"Really? Can you even tell me any of their names?" Weiss asked.

"Of course!" Ruby replied. "There's… uh… guy with the sunglasses, and buzz cut lady-"

"That's what I thought" Weiss said, cutting her friend off. "Thankfully, I thought to bring the names and cell numbers of everyone we need to save on my phone".

"You did? Let me see, let me see!" Ruby said, grasping for Weiss's phone.

"Oh no you don't" Weiss said as she held the device out of Ruby's reach. "I saw what you did to your laptop, and I'm not about to let you turn my phone into a fireplace too".

"Hey, that was just one time!" Ruby protested.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure most people have used their computers thousands of times without setting them on fire once" Weiss pointed out. "I think I'll handle this on my own. Besides, if you can take out the main radio on the bridge, then you can start making as much noise as you want".

"Really?" Ruby said with her eyes instantly lighting up. "Why didn't you say so? Have fun downstairs!"

With that, the young gang leader eagerly activated her semblance and sped off, killing or knocking out any unfortunate guard that stood between her and the bridge.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm still going to end up regretting this?" Weiss asked herself.

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Sun said, still holding his microphone. "I'm sorry, boys, but you're going to have to wait until after the show to get your autographs".

"Sorry, but we're not exactly fans of your work" Cardin said as Sun's backup dancers panicked and fled the stage. "We're here to put an end to your stupid animal music once and for all".

"Okay, I know that my last album wasn't my best work, but isn't this taking it a bit far?" Sun asked casually, not putting his hands up in the air even in the face of the armed thugs surrounding him. "I mean, just leave a nasty review online or something! You didn't have to go and crash one of my shows!"

"Sorry, but The Saints prefer to do things in person" Cardin said, putting extra emphasis on the word 'Saints'.

"Oh, so you think you can do better?" Sun said mockingly. "Then go ahead, knock yourself out!"

The blond Faunus ended his statement by tossing his microphone directly into Cardin Winchester's face, striking him in the jaw and forcing his aim off just enough so that his bullets shot harmlessly off to the side when he reflexively pulled the trigger on his shotgun.

The other disguised CRDL members tried to take Sun down themselves, but the feedback caused by the mic hitting Carin caused them, and everyone else in the amphitheater, to flinch. This gave Sun enough time to knock Cardin's weapon out of his hands and begin exchanging blows with the much larger man.

The other gangsters tried to recover and help their leader out, but were stopped as Blake took her chance to storm the stage and start gunning down as many of Cardin's men as she could.

One of the gunmen was almost able to line up a shot with the embattled rapper, but was stopped at the last second by Yang sneaking up behind him and smashing a heavy electric guitar over his head like an axe.

"Hello, boys" Yang said, her instrument of death still dripping with blood. "Let's rock and roll!"

Meanwhile, the fight between Cardin and Sun Wukong was going very similarly to the first time the two fought, with Sun being able to easily dodge out of the way of the bandana wearing man's heavy blows.

"Now this is just sad" Sun commented in between punches. "We've already danced this dance before, and we both know how this is going to end".

"That's what you think, but this time I'm two steps ahe-" Cardin said before almost tripping over his own feet.

"Ha! Why do I get the feeling your IQ doesn't reach double digits?" Sun asked, laughing. "I almost feel guilty doing this, but it has to be done…"

Sun once again reached his long tail around Cardin during the fight, and tried to tap him on the shoulder to distract him. The disguised gangster saw it coming, however, and grabbed hold the flexible appendage before it could even touch him. Sun tried to pull it away, but the brunette gangster held firmly on and began pulling on it with all his might.

This tugged Sun along with it, and soon the young rapper found himself lifted off his feet as Cardin began swinging him around the stage like a toy.

"Hey! Hands off the merchandise!" Sun shouted as he tried desperately to regain some form of control. "Let me go!"

"Your words, not mine" Cardin said before releasing his grip on Sun's tail and sending him flying through the air.

"Hell yeah!" Yang shouted as smacked the end of her guitar into another street thug's skull. "Now this is my kind of head bang-"

The blonde's pun was cut off as Sun finally came crashing down into her, knocking them both back into a pile of audio equipment behind them, stunning them both.

"Sorry, monkey boy, but you just dropped your last record" Cardin said as he picked his shotgun back up and began walking towards the two disoriented blonds. "And you're about to drop too".

"You'll have to go through me first" Blake said as she stepped into the massive man's path.

By now, Cardin was well aware of Blake's shadow clone trick and didn't even slow down as he continued charging towards Sun, dead set on delivering the final blow. However, the feeling of a heel's sharp toe colliding with his testicles informed him that the black haired woman in front of him was indeed real.

His aura helped prevent any physical damage, but the blow still hurt enough to force the orange haired man to his knees, grasping his precious sack.

"I have to say, Cardin, this plan wasn't half bad" Blake said as she approached his kneeling form. "By taking out one of your massacre's only witnesses in front of thousands of people, you could have killed two birds with one stone. You really should have quit while you were ahead, though…"

Blake then reached for the man's makeshift mask and tore it from his face, revealing Cardin's face for the whole amphitheater to see. Cardin tried to hid his face when he saw himself broadcasted onto the enormous television screens around the amphitheater, but the cat was already out of the bag.

"What's the matter?" Sun asked while dusting himself off. "The whole reason you came here was to be seen, right? Well, now's your chance! Show us your big, beautiful face!"

Cardin made a mad dash towards the crowd, but was immediately stopped by both Blake and Sun holding onto his right hand. He tried to punch them away with is left, but soon found that hand restrained too by Yang's strong arms.

Sun's tail was once again on the move during all of this, snaking its way over to the rapper's fallen microphone and catapulting it up into the blond's free hand.

"Take a good look, everyone" Sun announced to his audience. "Because this is the face of the CRDL asshole who really killed all those Faunus last week".

By this point, the crowd was going absolutely nuts, with shocked gasps and shouts of disbelief filling the outdoor theater. Everyone with a phone tried their best to take as many photos of the scene as possible, and upload them to the web. There was no hiding his identity now.

"I'll admit, The Saints aren't a perfect gang either, but they did a pretty good job of saving my skin here tonight" Sun said, nodding towards Blake and Yang. "So, I think it's only fair if I say that my skin now belongs to them".

Sun then took out the bandana Blake had given him and tied it it around his upper right arm, red roses showing proudly for the cameras. This caused the crowd to start yelling and cheering even more loudly than before, but this also gave Cardin his opportunity to break free of Blake's grip and deliver a solid punch to Yang's face.

Free from his captors, Cardin then dashed into the crowd and made a beeline towards the exit. A few people tried to stop him, but he was far too powerful for them to do anything but slightly slow him down.

"That motherfucker" Yang said angrily as she picked up Cardin's shotgun and took aim.

"Stop, you might hit the crowd" Blake said over the shouts of the audience. "Besides, we've already won".

"Yeah, you're right" Yang agreed, lowering her gun. "I guess that our popularity problem taken care of. I wonder how Ruby's doing with recruitment?"

* * *

Weiss made her way into the hold of the ship as stealthily as she could, taking out guards she came across along the way with her silenced sub-machine gun. Once she found the jailor with all the keys, Weiss found the first prisoner on her list and approached his cell.

"Crimson Sky?" Weiss asked a redhaired man wearing an orange prison uniform through his cage bars.

"Yeah, that's me" he said back lazily. "What the hell are you doing here? Came to try all our gourmet prison food?"

"Augh, I'd eat a bar of lead first; at least that would have some flavor" Weiss replied. "No, I'm here to bust you and the other Saints out".

"Sweet!" he said as Weiss unlocked his door. "Hey, could you let the guy next to me out too? He's not with us, but he's a pretty cool guy nonetheless".

"Sorry, but this prison break is for members of our gang only" Weiss said as she began walking towards the next Saint's cell. "The rest of these assholes can just rot here for all I care".

"Hey, fuck you, lady! That's not fair!" a random prisoner shouted from his cell as the white haired woman walked by.

Weiss stopped by the angry criminal's cell leaned in close with an exaggerated look of pity painting her face.

"Aww, I'm sowwy" Weiss said insincerely. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to let you out as soon as possible. And then we can all go out for ice cream, and arcade games, and everyone can get a nice big participation award because life's so fucking fair! Grow up".

Just then, a loud clicking noise reverberated through the ship, catching everyone in the hull off guard. Then, one by one, each cell door on the entire ship slowly creaked themselves open.

"Heh, I guess there is some justice after all" the massive prisoner said as he deliberately thundered out of his prison towards Weiss. He was soon joined by a dozen other inmates, each of whom were already eagerly imagining what they were going to do once they got their hands on Weiss.

If the much smaller woman was scared, she didn't show it at all. Instead, the look on her face was that of pure annoyance, as she already had a good idea of who was responsible for all this. After regaining her composure, she finally spoke up and addressed everyone within earshot.

"Everyone who's a Saint, stay in your cells!" Weiss said authoritatively. "Everybody else… you better hope Patch has good doctors".

The first prisoner charged forward with a swing of his immense fist, but Weiss easily shot him through the head with her sub-machine gun. Unfortunately for her, this did little to stop his incoming momentum, and his corpse still managed to collide with Weiss and knock her to the floor.

Another man took this chance to try and stomp the ex-heiress's face in, but she was able block the blow and bounce him back using one of her glyphs as a shield. She then shoved the dead man off from on top of her and stood up, just in time for a third assailant to come at her with a shiv fashioned out of a an old comb.

Weiss responded by forcing the man's makeshift knife into his own thigh before pulling it out and stabbing a prisoner behind her through the neck. The next man tried coming at her with a mace made out of a bar of soap stuffed into a sock, but Weiss had more than enough time to pick her gun back off the ground and open fire before he even came close.

A few stray bullets collided with some of the other inmates in the hall, but the rest were able to take cover back inside their own cells. She continued spraying fire down the hallway until her gun went silent, completely out of ammunition.

The remaining inmates heard this and charged out of their cells once more, but the young gangster was anything but defenseless. The first one she slammed the the butt of her gun against his nose before tossing it aside and moving down the hallway towards the next attacker.

This one was scrawny enough that Weiss was able to knock him out with a simple punch, but the next one was able to dodge out of the way of her blows.

"Ha! Looks like I'm too fast for you" he mocked as he continued to avoid Weiss's hits.

"Not quite..." Weiss said as she suddenly lunged forward and grasped onto his orange jumpsuit. "But you're about to be".

Weiss then activated her semblance and summoned a large white glyph behind her, which she immediately tossed the hapless man into. This accelerated him down the hallway at a breakneck speed until he finally collided with the heavy metal door at the end of the corridor. The impact was so strong that it instantly ruptured his chest, sending blood and organs flying in all directions.

"Anyone else want their fair share of me?" Weiss said, turning back around.

The remaining men in the hallway decided that now was their best opportunity to abandon whatever plans they had for attacking the white haired woman. They all instantly scrambled back towards their cells, locking themselves inside in an attempt to somehow protect themselves.

"That's what I thought" Weiss said, taking her cell phone back out. "Now then, you're coming with me, and you, and you…"

* * *

Ruby was much less subtle in her attempts to clear out the guards of the upper decks. Instead of ducking from cover to cover and avoiding anyone's line of sight, Ruby was just running up to each of them one by one with her semblance and shooting them in the head at point blank range.

Once she was sure she had eliminated most of the guards on the upper decks of the ship, the deadly red blur made its way to the bridge and kicked down the door.

"Special delivery!" Ruby shouted to the room's surprised occupants. "My Dust to your brains! Enjoy!"

Some of the sailors tried to make a break for it, but none of them were nearly fast enough to escape in time. In only a minute's time, almost every single one of them was bleeding out onto the blue floor of the bridge.

"Aw, no tip?" Ruby whined. "That's okay, I'm just happy to do my job".

The only other person who was still alive in the room was the captain, who began fumbling desperately for the radio in front of him. The warm feeling of a gun barrel under his chin quickly ended his hopes for calling for help, however.

"Watcha doin?" Ruby asked gleefully. "Oh, you want to put on some tunes for the cruise? Great idea! Here's one of my favorites!"

The redhaired woman then shifted the gun away from the man's head for a few seconds to fire three consecutive shots into the radio in front of him, ruining it completely.

"Music to my ears!" Ruby said contently. "Now let's get going, Mr. Man! We're gonna play 'Captors and Hostages'. Guess which you are!"

The captain complied and put his hand behind his head, and Ruby began escorting him out of the room. That was, until she noticed an unusually large red button sitting on a nearby console inside of a glass case with the words 'Press only in the case of emergency' written underneath it.

"Ooh, a big red button!" Ruby said with a twinkle in her eyes. "What's it do, what's it do?"

"It-it opens up all cells on the ship" the captain replied, too frightened to try lying.

"Oh my gosh!" Ruby gasped. "That means that I can help save all my homies too! Yes!"

Instead of simply opening the glass case and pressing the button herself, Ruby just slammed her pistol into the glass and pressed it violently down that way.

"You're welcome, Weiss!" Ruby said as if her friend could hear her. "Now, let's get going again".

Her terrified captive reluctantly complied, and started walking out of the room towards the back of the ship. Things seemed to be going smoothly but, in her haste to clear out the upper decks as soon as possible, Ruby accidentally let one of the security guards live. He waited around a corner with his pistol in hand, ready to try and somehow save his commanding officer.

Once the sound of footsteps were close enough, the man leapt from his hiding place and opened fire, each shot hitting their mark. Most of the shots were simply halted by Ruby's aura, but there was one casualty as result of the brief assault.

"Mr. Quakums!" Ruby gasped as the floatie around her waist began to deflate. "You monster!"

His survival instincts kicking in, the man turned around and tried to run but his escape was cut short by the feeling of plastic wrapping around his neck. The young gang leader had picked up her deflated pool toy and was choking the man to death with it. He tried desperately to call out for help, but all that did was cause the floatie's squeaker to start letting out little quacking noises.

"Shh...there, there" Ruby said softly as the guard slumped to the floor. "You've been avenged…"

The captain watched the horrifying scene before him for a few moments before realizing that this was his one chance to escape and made a run to a nearby life boat.

"Ah, ah, no leaving this boat party just yet" Ruby said before activating her semblance and rushing the man down.

Unfortunately for her, Ruby overestimated her own speed and collided with the fleeing captain, sending them both tumbling over the railing of the boat. Ruby was able to grab onto one of the railings before she plummeted into the waters below, but the sailor also managed to avoid falling by latching onto Ruby's foot.

"Hey, let go!" Ruby shouted down as she tried to shake him off to no effect. "I can't swim!"

"No way!" the captain shouted up defiantly. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you down with me!"

Ruby tried again to pull herself up, but her powers involved super speed and not super strength, so she couldn't do anything but dangle there helplessly. But, just when it felt like she was about to lose her grip, the young gang leader suddenly felt her load get a lot lighter.

Ruby looked down just in time to see the shark that had followed her and Weiss to the boat start falling back down to the ocean waters, taking the lower half of the man attached to her leg along with it. He still tried to hang on but quickly passed out from shock, which allowed Ruby to kick off the rest of his corpse with ease.

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted as entered back onto the upper decks and saw her leader hanging precariously over the side of the ship. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine" Ruby said as she pulled herself back on board. "Our fishy friend from earlier saved me!"

Weiss looked down and saw the blood that filled the water below, along with the continually circling dorsal fin of man eating great white.

"You have got to be kidding me" Weiss said dryly.

"I think she likes us!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. "Can we keep her?

"Oh no, no way" Weiss replied. "Under no circumstances are we taking that thing to Beacon".

* * *

"Woah!" Yang said in awe of Ruby's new shark tank in Beacon's old cafeteria. "And I thought our night went well!"

After saving Sun's life, Blake and Yang spent most of the rest of the night partying with the rapper and his friends. This gave Ruby and Weiss plenty of time to transport their new pet to their hideout and give their friends one hell of a surprise when they got home.

"This thing cost so much fucking money" Weiss said, her eyebrow twitching in frustration. "We could have hired a small army with what we spent getting that thing here".

"And it was worth every Lien!" Ruby replied.

"Didn't say you wanted to improve your image among the people?" asked Blake. "Because if anyone saw this thing, they'd think you were a supervillain".

"Really? I think she looks cute!" Ruby said as the shark's scarred face came close to the glass.

"Ruby, 'she' is a bloodthirsty monster that would just as soon eat you as look at you" Weiss angrily pointed out.

"Her name is 'Smiley'" Ruby argued determinedly. "She's big, and beautiful, and loves me just as much as I love her. Isn't that right, sweetie?"

The short redhead then turned around and pressed her arms against the glass, as if she were trying to somehow hug the massive pool.

"I'll admit, having a shark around is pretty metal and all, but we still have to pay the bills somehow" commented Yang.

"Don't worry, I've got just the plan to make back everything I spent today" Ruby explained. "It's going to involve lots of explosions and car chases and really cool guns…"

Ruby walked as she talked and began leading her friends out of the room. Blake moved to follow but stopped when she saw someone wave at her from the corner of her eye.

"Sun?" she asked, approaching the blond Faunus man who was leaning against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a Saint now, remember?" Sun casually replied. "I've got just as much right to be here as you do".

"I guess so" Blake replied. "I wouldn't let Ruby know about that for a while, though, unless you want a black eye".

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind" Sun said with a soft laugh. "I'll still mostly be doing my shows, though, but this does mean we'll be doing business together a lot more often from now on".

"Yeah… business" Blake said, smiling. "I look forward to working with you, Sun".

Blake moved to shake the man's hand, but Sun instead pulled her forward by the arm and pressed his lips lightly against hers.

"It'll be my pleasure" Sun whispered to her. "See you around".

Sun passed by Yang on his way to the exit, who had an incredibly smug look on her face after seeing what she just saw. Ruby and Weiss were too busy talking with each other to notice, but the blonde saw the whole thing.

"Not a word" Blake said with her eyebrows furrowed and a light blush on her cheeks.

* * *

Despite it being so late in the night, Pyrrha still worked tirelessly late in her office on the vast amount of paperwork that was piled onto her desk. The high amount of gang activity in the city caused by The Saints meant that there was an irregularly high amount of police reports being filed, and she had to read through and approve every single one of them.

Her work was interrupted by the sound of knocking on her door, breaking Pyrrha out of the administrative trance she had put herself in.

"Come in" she called out, trying not to let the weariness in her voice show.

"Uh, excuse me ma'am" a female officer with purple hair said as she entered the room. "I regret to inform you that that prison ship containing all those Saints you arrested never made it to Patch. We're looking for it as we speak, but something tells me that we'll be missing a few dozen prisoners when we find it".

"Thank you for informing me Amethyst" Pyrrha replied cooly. "I would like to be alone for a few minutes now, if you don't mind".

"Of course, ma'am" the officer said before closing the door.

The tall redhead stared at her desk in silence for a few minutes before finally letting out a loud sigh and returning to her busy work.

"You can't break the rules, Pyrrha. You're better than that, and you'll get your chance to take them down soon enough" she said out loud to herself. "The system works… the system works… the system…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, what do you guys think of the two latest additions to The Saints? Be sure to let me know in a comment!
> 
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	19. Chapter 19

Weiss let out a long sigh as she lay further back into the comfortable salon chair she was sitting in. A woman with short pink hair was was busy painting her nails a delicate shade of white while another woman scrubbed away at her feet. It wasn’t anything as luxurious as what she received on a weekly basis when her father was still alive, but it was certainly helping to take the edge off.

“Tough week at work?” asked a green haired woman in a business suit who was receiving similar treatment next to Weiss.

“You can tell?” Weiss asked back.

“I’ve made that same noise on more than one occasion” the business woman replied. “It’s hard out there for working women like us”.

“Tell me about it” Weiss agreed. “Endless work hours, moronic coworkers, I have to clean up everyone’s messes…”

“... and even then, you never get any respect!” said the business woman, finishing Weiss’s sentence.

“Exactly!” Weiss said before letting out another sigh. “I swear, it feels like I’m a just a glorified babysitter on most days, having to put up with whatever little ‘game’ my boss comes up with next”.

“I know exactly how you feel” the other woman replied. “You do what you have to do to survive, though, even if it means giving up a little of your dignity”.

“Ugh, it feels like a lot more than just a little” Weiss groaned.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be fine” the green haired woman reassured her. “I don’t think either of us would have gotten as far as we have if we gave up when things got a little tough. We’re stronger than that”.

“Yeah, you’re right” Weiss said as her manicure was finally finished. “Thanks, I needed a pep talk like that. What’s your name?”

“Olive Green, vice president of Vale Electronics, at your service” the business woman responded proudly. “I come here every once in awhile to make sure the investors’ eye candy doesn’t go stale. What about you? What’s your story?”

“I’m… White… White Snow” Weiss responded after thinking for a few moments. “I’m a manager at a local Dust company. It’s very nice to meet you”.

“Likewise, but you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t shake your hand” Olive said, wiggling her still drying fingernails through the air.

“Of course” Weiss said, nodding.

The two then waited a few minutes for both their wet feet and their manicures to sufficiently dry before checking out with the cashier and walking out into the parking lot. Weiss continued chatting with her new friend as they walked but was interrupted by the loud vibrating of her cell phone within her purse. The text was from Blake, and contained an address for a building on the other side of town followed by the words ‘Got another one’.

“A message from work?” asked Olive.

“Of course it fucking is” Weiss swore scornfully as read the text on her phone. “It seems like I can’t go five minutes without someone needing something done”.

“A woman’s work is never done” Olive said sympathetically. “I sure hope your pay is good if they’re still making you do things on a Sunday”.

“It doesn’t pay as much as you’d think” Weiss grumbled under her breath. “Actually, that reminds me of something. I’ve been a little short on Lien lately; would you mind loaning me some?”

“Not at all!” Olive replied. “How much do you need?”

“How about…” Weiss said as she carefully reached into her purse. “... all of it”.

Olive stopped dead in her tracks as she felt the cold feeling of a handgun’s muzzle pressing up against the back of her suit.

“W-what are you doing?” the business woman asked, terrified.

“Hmmm, I don’t know… Could it be that I’m… mugging you?” Weiss asked sarcastically. “I’d hate to risk ruining my manicure, but I will kill you if you don’t give me everything you’ve got”.

“You bitch!” Olive shouted, her tone abruptly turning sour and spiteful. “I thought you were my friend! Why are you doing this?”

“You do what you have to survive” Weiss said as she cocked her gun. “And for you, that involves handing over all your valuables. Slowly”.

Olive did as she was told, and carefully removed all of her jewelry and placed it into her brown purse. Once she was done, she handed it over to Weiss’s right hand and the gangster began looking through it while her pistol continued pressing against Olive’s back.

“Eh, this will do” Weiss said as she tossed the bag over her shoulder with her own purse. “See you around”.

“You’ll never get away with this!” Olive said fiercely, her back still turned on Weiss.

“Right, like I haven’t heard that one before” the white haired gangster said as she opened the door to red muscle car. “Oh, and if you cancel your credit cards before the end of the month, I’ll kill your husband“.

“But I’m not married” Olive pointed out, causing Weiss to roll her eyes.

“Then your dog, or cat, or whatever” Weiss shouted, annoyed. “Just keep those cards working, or your job is going to be the least of your problems”.

Weiss then drove out of the parking lot and began speeding down the road towards Blake’s location. However, as she double checked the address on her phone of the building, she realized that the dry cleaner she was planning on going to was on the way.

“I’m sure Blake will understand if I take a little detour” Weiss rationalized to herself as she pulled into the dry cleaner's parking lot.

“Hey there Weiss, how are you doing?” a red haired woman behind the cashier’s desk said as she watched Weiss enter the building.

“Same as always, Sandy” Weiss replied casually.

“Really? Are you sure?” Sandy asked. “You look like something’s bothering you”.

“Well… I do feel like I’ve been forgetting something important” Weiss admitted.

“Maybe you didn’t load your gun, or forgot to check your dress for bullet holes after your last firefight” suggested Sandy.

“Oh no, I always remember to do those” Weiss replied.

“Then I’m sure it’s nothing” her redheaded friend concluded. “So, you here for the dress?”

“Yep” Weiss said, reaching into her purse and handing the cashier her ticket. “I trust that, you took good care of it”.

“Girl, you know that I don’t even want to think about what you’d do to me if I screwed up some of your clothes” Sandy said as she handed Weiss a white dress that was draped in plastic on a coathanger. “See you next week”.

“I have a feeling it might be sooner than that” Weiss said before giving her friend a generous tip from Olive’s purse and heading back to her car.

It didn’t take Weiss very long to find the apartment building that Blake wrote about in her text. While she wasn’t able to get a good look at the address, the piles of dead CRDL goons strewn about in front of the building told Weiss everything she needed to know about it.

She then made her way through the complex, following the trail of corpses and bullet holes Blake had left behind until she finally found the Faunus woman waiting for her in a room at the back of the complex. Inside, Blake was comfortably turning the pages of a small novel atop a bald man wearing CRDL colors who lay bound and gagged beneath her. He tried desperately to struggle against his makeshift bonds, but he couldn’t so much as break Blake’s concentration on her book.

“Sorry I’m late” Weiss apologized as she entered the room.

“No biggie” Blake replied, adjusting her reading glasses. “I’ve been meaning to do some reading lately anyways”.

“How’s the book?” Weiss asked.

“Pretty good” Blake replied. “It’s about a girl with cancer trying to learn how to play the piano before she dies. It’s really- wait, hold on”.

Blake saw that one of the men she thought she killed was still moving on the ground, and was trying to inch his way over to a nearby gun. Blake swiftly put a stop to that by taking her silenced pistol back out and shooting him until he stopped moving, and then shot him a few more times to make sure he stayed down.

“Really inspiring” Blake said, finishing her sentence from earlier.

“Sounds like a good read. I’ll have to check it out sometime” Weiss said before turning her attention to Blake’s hostage. “This another one of Cardin’s arms dealers?”

“Indeed he is” Blake said as she got up and forced the man to his feet. “Let’s hope that this one lasts longer than the last one”.

“I doubt it” Weiss said dismissively. “Ruby has a bad habit of breaking her toys as soon as she gets them”.

“I know, but we can’t keep doing this forever” Blake said. “He’s going to run out of dealers eventually”.

The Saints’ words caused the already terrified man to begin panicking and struggling even more, but Blake was still able to drag him to the back of Weiss’s car without much incident.

“Hey, what’s that smell?” Blake asked as Weiss moved to open her car’s trunk.

“What are you- oh my god!” Weiss swore. “So that’s what I forgot”.

Inside the trunk was the rotting corpse of a woman in a police uniform. Judging by the state of decay, she’d been dead inside the back of Weiss’s car for at least a week.

“Who is- er, was this?” Blake asked.

“Long story” Weiss replied. “Basically, a parking ticket went south and I didn’t have time get rid of the body”.

“Well, at least chrome dome here won’t be lonely” Blake said as she picked her hostage up by the collar and tossed him into the trunk.

By now the terrified man had completely gone to pieces, thrashing wildly around and screaming as loud as his cloth gag would allow.

“Oh stop your whining” ordered Weiss. “Or do you want me to leave you in there?”

The man suddenly ceased his squirming, and became just as silent as the dead corpse he was now lying on top of.

“That’s what I thought” Weiss said before closing the trunk.

The two Saints then entered the vehicle in a much more comfortable manner, with Blake sitting in the passenger's seat and Weiss once again taking her place behind the wheel. They were then driving east back down the road, towards Beacon.

“Nice dress, by the way” Blake complimented as she glanced into the back seat.

“Thanks” said Weiss. “I obviously bought it before our recent pay cut… stupid fucking fish”.

“Yeah, that thing was expensive, but hopefully we’ll finally get a return on her today” Blake said optimistically.

“We better, or I’m going to make us the world’s biggest sushi dinner”.

* * *

 

They both arrived back at Beacon a few minutes later and immediately went to their rooms to change. Weiss swapped her usual white dress for fluffy white blouse with a red sash tied around the waist, black pants, and a black eyepatch placed neatly over her left eye. Blake, meanwhile, changed out of her normal outfit and instead put on a tight black corset, a messy red skirt, long brown boots, and a red bandana tied around the top of her head.

“I can’t believe she’s making us wear these ridiculous getups” Weiss complained as she exited her bedroom.

“Eh, I’ve worn worse outfits to work” replied Blake. “Come on, let’s go make sure Yang’s ready too”.

The two made their way down the hall to their blonde friend’s room and Weiss pounded roughly against the door.

“Yang!” Weiss shouted loudly. “Get your ass out here! We’ve got another blue douchebag to interrogate!”

“Be right there!” Yang shouted back, her response accompanied by a disappointed male groan.

When Yang finally opened the door a little while later, she was wearing a tight yellow bikini top, white shorts, a black eyepatch over her right eye, and black leather boots, and her long blonde hair had been tied back into messy ponytail. It wasn’t her outfit that immediately stood out to Blake and Weiss, though; it was her smell.

Yang positively reeked of sex, and the still naked body of her latest boyfriend behind her confirmed that she had finished with him only a few minutes prior. The stench was so strong that Weiss couldn’t stop herself from gagging when it reached her nostrils, though Blake didn’t seem to react to it at all.

“Augh, you’re not even going to take a shower first?” Weiss whined as she tried to fan the smell away from her nose.

“You’re the one who wanted my ass ‘out here now’, so here I am” teased Yang. “There’s one more thing I need to do before we go though”.

She then took out her cell phone and began typing away at the screen.

“Just beat my old record… three orgasms in one fuck…” Yang said out loud as she typed. “Let’s go for four next time! And… send!”

“Do you post about all the shits you take too?” Weiss asked, clearly disgusted with what had just occurred.

“Maybe I should” Yang said as she pocketed her phone. “People have been eating my posts up ever since we rescued Sun. I’m practically a celebrity! You’ve got more than a few admirers yourself, Blake. You totally could start a fan club too, if you’d like”.

“Thanks, but I’d prefer to stay out of the limelight if I can” Blake replied.

“Suit yourself” Yang said, shrugging. “Now then, let’s go pick up our little guest. The ‘captain’ is waiting”.

* * *

 

The arms dealer that Blake had kidnapped was still trapped within the confines of Weiss’s trunk, debating with himself over which part of the dead woman in front of him he’d eat first if The Saints ended up forgetting that he was there. Fortunately for him, the back of the car popped open before he was forced to experiment with cannibalism but, unfortunately for him, he was far from being free.

“Upsee-daisy” Yang said as she lifted the man out the car. “It’s time for you to meet the boss”.

He was then forcefully led through the halls of Beacon until they reached the cafeteria. Inside, the whole room was decorated like it was a tropical beach, with fake palm trees, toy crabs and starfish, and piles of white sand. The side of Smiley’s shark tank, meanwhile, was decked out like the deck of an old sailing ship with cardboard sails, inflatable anchors, and plastic cannons. To their unwilling CRDL visitor, it seemed like they had stumbled upon some kind of terrible theme park for five-year-olds.

“Ahoy there, mateys!”  Ruby called out from atop Smiley’s tank when she saw her lieutenants approaching. Instead of her normal clothes, the young gang leader was instead wearing what appeared to be an old blue navel jacket with a battered red shirt underneath, fluffy black pantaloons, and large black captain’s hat with a white skull emblazoned on the front of it. In her right hand she was holding fake pirate hook that concealed her fist completely, while her left hand held a long steel sword that glimmered far too realistically for The Saints’ terrified prisoner.

Once the hostage was close enough, Ruby jumped down from her perch and placed the tip of her sword up against the man’s throat.

“And who be this skallywag?” asked Ruby.

“He’s another one of Cardin’s arm’s dealers” answered Weiss. “We’re certain that he knows the location of-”

“Weiss!” Ruby whined as she broke character. “You’re supposed to do the accent!”

“Oh, come on!” Weiss complained back. “I put on this stupid outfit, didn’t I? Isn’t that enough?”

Ruby didn’t say anything, but instead just stared at Weiss as her big grey eyes welled up with tears and her bottom lip began quivering violently.

“Augh” Weiss groaned as she rolled her eye. “This landlubber be Captain Winchester’s master gunner. He knows where the briny bastard has buried his treasure”.

“Very good, lassies!” Ruby said, her mood instantly shifting back towards excited. “Now then… tell us where Cutthroat Cardin has hidden his sexy booty, or else!”

Yang then untied the cloth gag from the man’s mouth, allowing him to finally speak for the first time in hours.

“What the hell are you guys talking about?” he asked in a horrified tone. “What the fuck is going on here?! Let me out of here, you crazy bitches!”

“Yar! Poor choice of words there, laddy” Yang said menacingly behind him. “Now you get to walk the plank!”

“Wha-, what are you-!” the CRDL member said panickingly as Ruby led him over to a ladder on the side of Smiley’s tank and began forcing him up it.

The top of the shark’s tank was completely uncovered except for a precariously placed wooden board nailed onto the side of it. The pointy tip of Ruby’s sword sticking into the man’s back forced him to start walking forward onto the plank, which gave him the perfect view of the man eating shark that was circling only a few feet below him.

“Now then, I’m feeling mighty generous today, so I’ll give you one last chance to tell us where your crew’s loot is buried before you sleep with the fishes!” Ruby said through her cartoony accent.

“That’s not a pirate saying” Blake called out below them.

“It’s not?” Ruby asked, breaking character again. “Darn. Uh, before I send you straight to the locker rooms!”

“Close enough” said Blake.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” the man answered honestly. “Do want access to his bank accounts, or-”

“What we be seeking be far more valuable than gold” answered Ruby. “What we want is your six powders!”

“What?” he asked, still confused. “What on Remnant are those?”

“Don’t play daft with me, boy!” Ruby said, trying hard to sound threatening. “Now, are you going to tell me where they are, or are we going to have to run your red blood all over the deep blue-” 

“Oh my god” Weiss said, interrupting her boss. “I’m sorry, but this is just so stupid. The last ten arms dealers you interrogated didn’t crack under threat, and this one isn’t going to either”.

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” Ruby asked in her normal voice.

“How about a bribe?” Weiss responded. “I know this might sound crazy to someone who uses live handguns to pick corn out of her teeth, but sometimes the carrot works better than the stick”.

“But we’re practically broke, and I doubt he’d snitch on his boss for just one lousy vegetable” argued Ruby.

“That’s why you lie” Weiss explained, completely exasberated.

“Ooooh” Ruby said in realization before slipping back into her pirate persona. “Good news, lad! I’m willing to make you parle for the tales you have sealed up inside your noggin. Just tell us where to find the booty, and you’ll get a few hundred doubloons for your-”

“It’s not going to work now, you dolt!” Weiss shouted. “God, at this rate we’ll never find out where Cardin’s weapons cache is!”

“Wait, that’s what you’re looking for?” the bald man asked as he struggled to keep his balance. “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! Just let me get down from here!”

“See? What have I always told you, first mate Weiss?” Ruby asked proudly. “Violence is always the answer”.

* * *

 

True to his word, the CRDL arms dealer told The Saints everything they wanted to know about the place where Cardin’s gang had been storing all the illegal weapons he’d been importing into the city. Two hours later, and Ruby and her friends found themselves back in their normal outfits and waiting in Weiss’s car in an alleyway not too far away from the warehouse in question, deep within Vale’s western industrial district.

Weiss herself was tapping her fingers impatiently across the steering wheel as her eye twitched in annoyance and Blake dutifully typed on her computer in the seat next to her. Ruby, meanwhile, was periodically bumping the back of Weiss’s chair as she bounced up and down in her seat in gleeful anticipation. Her sister, Yang, was busy tapping away at her phone’s tiny screen behind Blake, only occasionally looking up to see what was going on.

“Looks like he was telling the truth” Blake finally said as she shut her laptop. “The man who’s listed as the building’s owner, Andric Finchester, does not exist, and police reports indicate that a large number of mysterious packages have been seen coming in and out of the building”.

“Oh boy, oh boy!” Ruby said excitedly. “Do you know what this means?”

“That we’ll soon have a monopoly over Vale’s black market weapons?” asked Blake.

“I’ll finally be able to afford that gold backscratcher?” suggested Yang.

“You’ll stop kicking my seat?” Weiss said scornfully.

“No!” Ruby shouted as she jolted Weiss’s chair again. “It means that we’re about to get so many cool new weapons! Aaah, I can’t wait any longer! Let’s go!”

Ruby had already slammed open the door next to her and jumped out into the allway with her sub-machine gun in her hands and the look of a little girl about to receive a birthday present in her eyes.

“Wait!” Blake called out to her boss as she Ruby began dashing towards the gigantic warehouse. “We still need to signal our crew!”

In response, Ruby reached into one of her pockets, took out a live grenade, and tossed it into a nearby empty truck that was parked on the side of the street. The explosion of the grenade combined with the fuel in the car to create a fireball that was so loud that there wasn’t anyone within five blocks who didn’t hear it.

“There’s our signal!” Ruby shouted back. “Now move it, slowpokes! Last one in gets all the crappy guns!”

“That’s fine with me” Yang said as she leisurely stepped out of her side of the car with her trademark Penetrator resting on her shoulder. “I’m packing enough heat as it is”.

“Crap, did Louise drop a piece of merchandise again?” a blue clad gangster asked another as he put down a box full of ammunition. “I swear, if he blew off all his fingers again, I am NOT going to sew them back on”.

“Actually, it sounded like it came from outside…” said another as she glanced out through the building’s main entrance. “... Holy shit! Quick, shut the front gates! Now!”

Running towards the entrance of the building was not only the notorious Ruby Rose, but also what seemed like a small army of Saints following behind her. A CRDL member who was standing next to the entrance slammed his fist into a nearby button, which began closing the main doors automatically. In spite of their fears, the gates managed to shut just before the redhaired tornado was able to step inside.

“Whew, that was a close one” one of the gangsters said as he wiped his brow.

“I know” said Ruby, who was suddenly standing right next to him. “I almost got in! Can you even imagine what I’d do if that happened?”

“Ha! I don’t even want to think about it” he said, not noticing the horrified look on his friends’ faces.

“Okie dokie” Ruby said before firing a round point blank into the man’s skull. “There, no more pesky thoughts for you! Now then, let’s get this party started!”

Ruby then swiftly smacked the door control button and the gates began to reopen, allowing her homies to begin rushing in and trading fire with their besieged rivals. Ruby, however, didn’t seem to notice or care as she began opening up random crates and searching through them.

“Oh my gosh, it’s a Triple Magnum!” Ruby said delightedly as she pulled out a long revolver with three barrels from an open box. “I wonder if it works…”

The young gang leader took aim at the nearest CRDL goon she could spot and pulled the trigger, firing a shot that left a good sized hole in his chest, but the kickback felt like it almost knocked her hands off.

“Good, but the recoil is a bit too strong for my tastes” Ruby said before a shotgun blast smashed open the crate next to her. “Ooh, the A1 Shredder! I’ve been meaning to try out one of these”.

The rifle she pulled out of the broken box appeared to be a simple net gun at first, but that changed the instant the gun launched its payload, it’s wires glittering blue as they soared through the air and sliced clean through an unsuspecting CRDL member, causing him to fall to floor in big meaty chunks.

“Pretty cool, but it does only have one shot” Ruby said, slightly disappointed. “Oh wow, is that the R44 Headasplody? I thought that wasn’t going to be out until next year’s spring collection!”

“Ruby, we don’t have time for this!” Weiss pointed out as continued to fight the ever growing horde of CRDL thugs defending the warehouse. “Just pick something and help!”

“I’m sorry, Weiss, but these things take time” Ruby calmly explained. “A girl can’t just rush into a relationship with a new weapon! We have to make sure we’re compatible first. You know, see if we have the same taste in clip sizes, power, fire rates, etc.”

“Well, don’t get too attached” Yang said in between swings of her dildo bat. “We are planning on selling most of these, after all”.

“Nooooo!” Ruby whined as she latched onto a chest full of rifles and hugging tightly. “I’m going to keep them all for myself. I’m going to name you Jessica, and you Tiffany, and you-”

“You!” interrupted a familiar male voice. “You’re the one who’s been taking out all my dealers!”

Standing in between two rows of crates was none other than Russel Thrush, who was holding a sharp dagger in each hand and was flanked both sides by a dozen guards.

“Hey, only most of those were my fault!” Ruby shouted back. “If you taught your men how to play party games better, then maybe some of them would still be some around!”

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time” Russel said as spun one of his long knives. “I hope you’re ready to play my game now, because nothing is going to stand in between me and-”

This time, Russel found that he was the one being interrupted as police sirens suddenly filled the air and caused both the gangs to stop fighting. Over a dozen police cars had completely surrounded the building, and three police ospreys hovered menacingly overhead. Before anyone had any time to react to this, the skylights above them were abruptly blown out and Pyrrha Nikos, along with over a dozen other heavily armed officers, repelled down from the ceiling.

“Freeze!” Pyrrha called out from atop a large crate. “You are all under arrest! I’d list your crimes, but I’m afraid we don’t have all day”.

“Wow, it’s really them” an officer next to Pyrrha said casually. “I guess I owe you five Lien, boss; they are dumb enough to post about a robbery online”.

“Yang…” Weiss said as she turned her head towards the blonde in question, venom dripping from her voice.

“Okay, I know what you’re thinking, but I got like a thousand notes on that post, so it was totally worth it“ Yang said defensively. “Granted, most of them were probably cops, but still…”

“Enough!” Pyrrha shouted. “Our weapons are loaded with live ammunition this time, and we will not hesitate to put down anyone who does not surrender immediately! Now put your hands in the air!”

“Hmm, how about… no!” Weiss shouted, punctuating her sentence with a loud spark from her pistol that reignited the whole firefight, this time even more violent and chaotic than before. The Vale City Police tried to keep order as best as they could, but soon found their ranks fractured as officers tried their best just to stay alive.

Ruby quickly ducked away from the battle to behind a nearby pile of crates and began to hyperventilate, anxiety beginning to set in as bullets whizzed past mere inches from her face.

“Oh my gosh… it’s really her!” Ruby said nervously to herself. “Okay Ruby, calm down. Just remember Yang’s advice; act natural, and you’ll do just fine”.

While Ruby was busy muttering to herself in a corner, Pyrrha Nikos was trying her best just to stay alive. Both Saints and CRDL members alike tried to rush the tall police chief, but not a single one managed to get close before falling to her expert aim.

“Why do they never go quietly?” Pyrrha asked herself as she hollowed out a Saint’s chest with her shotgun. “We gave them that right for a reason, after all”.

Her musing were interrupted when she realized that Ruby was suddenly standing next to her, her hands timidly behind her back and her cheeks blushing as red as her clothes.

“Uh… hi there” Ruby said quietly. “Come here often?”

If Pyrrha could hear her over the sound of gunfire going on around her, she didn’t show it as she aimed her shotgun and pulled the trigger, the blast almost striking Ruby straight in the head before she dodged out the way using her semblance.

“Oh, right, silly question” said Ruby, now standing a foot to the left. “Sooooo… how are you doing?”

“Just fine, thanks” Pyrrha said as she continued to try and take Ruby down. “After all, I’m about to bring in someone who’s responsible for the massacre of dozens of innocent people”.

“Really?” Ruby asked happily. “Congratulations! Who’s that baddie who’s going to get locked up?”

“You!” Pyrrha shouted in between shots.

“Oh, you still think that we did that?” Ruby asked casually. “That was all CRDL’s fault, not us! Granted, we do kill a lot of civilians on accident, but it’s so hard not to when they’re so squishy and murderable”.

“I’ll be sure to make a note of that for when you’re on trial” Pyrrha said before noticing that a hastily scribbled-on sticky note had inexplicably appeared on her chest.

“Don’t worry, I took care of it!” Ruby said proudly. “Need anything else?”

“There you are!” Russel screamed as he ran up behind Ruby with his dagger’s trained on the young girl’s back. “Time for you to pay for what you did to my-”

“Hey, it’s rude to interrupt people, you know! I think someone deserves a time-out” Ruby said as she picked the man up from behind and quickly carried him to a corner of the warehouse. “Now you wait here and think about what you’ve done! I’ll be back to murder you in just a few minutes, so don’t go anywhere, young man!”

Ruby then left the bewildered green haired man where he was and zoomed back to the main firefight to rejoin Pyrrha.

“Now, where were we?” Ruby asked politely.

“I believe I was about to read you your rights” Pyrrha answered as she tried to shoot Ruby once again, but she found that her shotgun wouldn’t fire not matter how many times she pulled the trigger. “Uh oh… out of ammo”.

“I’ll get you some!” said Ruby, her eyes lighting up as she saw her chance. “No, wait! I have an even better idea!”

“You think you can just get rid of me?!” Russel shouted as he ran back towards Pyrrha and Ruby, a massive green rifle in his hands. “Well, you’ve got another thing come-”

“Heycaniborrowthisokaythanksbye” Ruby said quickly as she ripped the gun from Russel’s hands.

She then ran back towards the center of the room and launched the rifle into Pyrrha’s arms, nearly knocking the young police captain over with its weight.

“There you go!” Ruby stated contently. “A fully loaded, brand new, and top of the line assault rifle, just for you! My treat!”

At first, Pyrrha was happy just to be fully armed again, and prepared to open fire once more. But, right before she was about to pull the trigger, something suddenly occurred to the young police chief.

“You’re… toying with me, aren’t you?” Pyrrha asked, lowering her new weapon.

“If by ‘toying’ you mean ‘giving you lots of cool toys’!” replied Ruby. “This little lady can actually fire poison bullets! Once inside your bloodstream, it travels to your heart and eats it from the inside out! I can’t even imagine how painful dying like that would be”.

“That’s awful!” Pyrrha said as her eyes widened in horror.

“I know, it fills me with awe too” Ruby said obliviously. “What will they come up with next? Maybe a gun that comes with its own kill counter, or one that fires bees…”

“Oh, I get it…” Pyrrha said in realization. “You’re trying to bribe me, aren’t you?”

“What!?” Ruby said, her tone immediately shifting to a panicked one. “That’s not what I’m doing at-”

“Well, it is not going to work!” Pyrrha announced. “There is no way that I am ever going to help a criminal like you!”

Ruby was about to try and say something in her defense, but was interrupted by the sound of revving engines. The roar was so loud that it actually stopped the firefight that was tearing the warehouse apart as everyone turned to look at the source of the noise. It seemed to be just another large crate until the front of it suddenly burst open, revealing a large blue sports car sitting inside.

At least, it clearly was a sports car before it was modified. Now, the massive beast was more along the lines of a battlewagon, with thick armor plating, small automatic turrets on the sides, and a powerful machine gun mounted onto the hood. Though it was hard to make out through the car’s thick outer shell, Russel Thrush’s trademark green hair could be seen through the wagon’s windows.

“Let's see you ignore me now!” Russel called out as the guns on his car began mowing down any Saint or police officer that came too close. The remaining members CRDL were left untouched, however, and they eagerly took this as an opportunity to begin tipping the battle in their favor.

“Shit! Get down!” Pyrrha shouted as she reflexively tackled Ruby into cover right before Russel’s bullets came barreling towards them. This ended up with Ruby being forced to lay down on top of a pile of empty shell casings and a puddle of warm blood, but those were the last things on the young gang leader’s mind.

“Oh my god, I’m touching her boobs!” Ruby thought to herself as her face pressed into Pyrrha’s chest. “That means I’m no longer a virgin, right? This is the greatest day of my life!”

“This isn’t good” Pyrrha said said as she glanced up over the crate she and Ruby were hiding behind. “We have to do something, fast”.

“Uh, are you sure about that?” Ruby asked, her face as red as her hair. “Maybe we can just stay here, and let my friends take care of it”.

“No, they’re too busy dealing with the rest of Russel’s men” Pyrrha replied. “As much as I hate to admit it, we’re going to have to work together if we want to survive this”.

“Us… together!?” Ruby asked nervously. “I… I’ve got a plan! I’ll keep him distracted, and you use your metal pole powers to take him out!”

“You mean my semblance?” Pyrrha asked. “I’m not sure if I can-”

Pyrrha was interrupted by the sound of a box that Russel shot exploding nearby, sending shards of what used to be shotguns flying all over the building.

“My babies!” Ruby screamed in horror. “There’s no time, we have to do this now!”

Ruby then activated her semblance and disappeared before Pyrrha could get a word in edgewise, leaving the police captain alone behind the crates.

“I hope this works” Pyrrha said as she began motioning her hands towards Russel’s car.

“That’s it, run you fuckers! Run!” Russel shouted giddily as he continued spraying fire all over the warehouse. “That’s what you get for not taking me ser-”

“Hey, be quiet down there” Ruby said lazily as she tapped Russel’s armored windshield. “I’m trying to take a nap”.

Ruby yawned loudly as she lay back comfortably on the roof of Russel’s car, her body just out of sight of the green haired gangster’s auto-turrets.

“You!” Russel said in surprise. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Relaxing, duh” Ruby replied. “It’s not like you actually have a chance at winning, so I decided to take a little break”.

“Grrr…” Russel growled as he took out a handgun and aimed it towards the roof of his vehicle. When he pulled the trigger, however, bullet just bounced of the reinforced ceiling of the car and and struck him square in the head, taking out a large chunk of his protective aura.

“You hear something?” Ruby asked. “Eh, must have just imagined it”.

“You little…” Russel said, snarling. “You want to be up there? Fine, enjoy the ride!”

He then shifted his car into high gear and began racing erratically around the warehouse, forcing everyone in his path to desperately jump out of the way. The young girl resting on top of his battlewagon didn’t seem to notice though.

“Mmm, that’s nice of you” Ruby complimented. “I haven’t been rocked to sleep in years! Thanks!”

“God dammit!” Russel cursed. “I’m going to get you down from there even if it’s the last thing I do!”

Pyrrha, meanwhile, was subtly manipulating the car with her magnetic powers. Her semblance wasn’t strong enough to lift or crush the gigantic car by itself, but it was able to move some of the smaller pieces of it.

“Wow, I’ve never felt so peaceful before” Ruby said over the gunfire going on all around her. “You should totally try this for yourself”.

“Nice try, but I’m not falling for it!” Russel answered. “When I’m in here, I’m invincible!”

“Please, you’re just a nut” Pyrrha said as she finished up her work. “And even the toughest nuts can be cracked”.

Before Russel even realized what was going on, his battlewagon practically began to disintegrate around him as everything holding the vehicle together became undone. While Ruby was busy holding Russel’s attention, Pyrrha used her semblance to unscrew every little bit on the car she could. The wheels were the first to fall off, followed by the auto-turrets, the main machine gun, the engine, and then finally main cabin folded open like a box, leaving the green haired man inside just sitting in the middle of the room with a detached steering wheel in his hands.

“Uh…” Russel mumbled nervously. “You know, I think I’ll just go back to my time-out now”.

Russel tried to scramble away from the wreckage that used to be his car, but was stopped by Ruby and Pyrrha standing in his way.

“Care to do the honors?” Ruby asked Pyrrha as she offered the policewoman Russel’s poison rifle again.

“No… he’s unarmed” Pyrrha said, looking away. “But if you want to add another crime to your list… well, I won’t stop you”.

“Eh, suit yourself” Ruby said before taking aim at Russel.

 The CRDL lieutenant tried to make a break for it but didn’t make it far before he found his back riddled with bullets. The first ten or so were stopped by his aura, but as soon as he felt one penetrate his skin, he knew it was all over. Ruby wasn’t sure if it was the poison or the blood loss that finally killed him, but she could tell that Russel didn’t have the most pleasant end in the world.

“Hmm… it’s nice, but the bullets smell really funny” Ruby said as she tossed the gun to the side. “I think I’ll pass on this one”.

“Thank you for the assistance, Ms. Rose” thanked Pyrrha. “But, I hope you realize that this won’t stop me from arresting you”.

“Aw, come on! We make such a great team!” Ruby said bashfully. “In fact… I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you more often. Are you busy this Wend-”

“Captain Pyrrha, we have to get out of here! Now!” one of surviving police officers shouted as he ran up to Pyrrha and grabbed her by the arm. “We’re the only ones left, The Saints killed everyone else!”

“Not again…” Pyrrha said under her breath as she was dragged towards the exit. “Mark my words, Ruby, even if I never catch you, you’ll get what’s coming to you one day! All criminals do”.

“Yeah, you better run!” Yang shouted as she ran up to Ruby and the police cars outside began to evacuate. “Well, that went a bit messier than expected, but I’d say today was a job well-”

“Yang!” interrupted Ruby. “What the heck?! I was about to ask Pyrrha out on a date! You ruined my perfect chance!”

“Do you honestly think she’d say ‘yes’ to the most wanted woman in Vale?” Blake asked as she walked over towards the two sisters.

“Love can transcend any boundary!” Ruby replied dramatically. “Gender, family, caste, and even criminal records! Besides, no couple’s perfect, after all”.

“Well, sorry for cunt-blocking you, but I think I found a little something that’ll make you feel better” said Yang as she walked over to a newly opened crate. “Take a look at these”.

Ruby made her way over to the box in question and let out an amazed gasp when she saw what was resting inside.

“Oh my gosh!” Ruby said with starry eyes. “I think I’m falling in love all over again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you enjoying the story? Then be sure to tell me all about it in a comment!
> 
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	20. Chapter 20

"Hmmm… which of these do you think I should go with with?" asked Blake as she compared two black dresses in a mirror in her room. "The halter top or the square top?"

"Hang on a sec" Weiss replied from a nearby chair as she finished sewing shut a shallow but bloody sword wound on her lower right chest. "Shit, this is going to make me lopsided now isn't it?"

"Well, you could just get him to stab you again on the other side" Blake pointed out.

"Ha ha, I'm in stitches" Weiss said sarcastically before applying some gauze to help stop the bleeding. "Alright then; who designed each dress?"

"Uh… should it matter?" Blake asked.

"It's the only thing that matters" Weiss responded. "If you don't know, then just go with the one that was more expensive".

"You know I stole these, right?" Blake said with an eyebrow raised.

"Whatever, just go with the square" Weiss said frustratedly. "It's not like it matters anyways. You're going out with a rapper; you could probably show up to the date naked and he'd still go out with you".

"Well, I don't want to scare him off" Blake replied as her eyes returned to the mirror. "I want to show him that I'm not a complete psycho like you guys… no offense".

"None taken" Weiss said as she tugged on a new shirt. "I still say you're overdressed for this, though".

"Well, can't a girl just dress up every now and again?" Blake asked defensively.

"Oh… I get it" Weiss said knowingly. "You're trying to hide it, aren't you?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Blake asked nervously.

"You think that you that he won't be able to see it just because you put on a fancy dress, but the truth is that deep down… you're just a massive nerd" Weiss stated matter-of-factly.

Blake let out a relieved sigh.

"Yep, you caught me redhanded" Blake said with a laugh.

"He's going to find out eventually, you know" said Weiss.

"Yeah, but I think it'll probably be best if I ease him into it" replied Blake. "If I start out the night reading to him the entire fifty page rulebook of Remnant: The Game, he'd probably never want to see me again".

"Yeah, that's probably true" Weiss conceded. "Anyways, I should probably get going now. CRDL are not going to murder themselves and, unlike you, I actually plan on getting some work done tonight".

"Seriously?" asked Blake. "You're going back out there after you literally just had your ass handed to you by Dove and his cronies?"

"I don't have choice" Weiss said as she reloaded her pistol. "He was kind enough to give me this new scar, so I have to pay him back… with interest. Good luck on your date tonight".

"Thanks, and good luck to you too" replied Blake.

With that, the two finished dressing and left the room in pursuit of their perspective targets, and each with the exact same thought on their minds.

"He won't know what hit him".

* * *

Blake's fingers tapped nervously across her leather purse as she sat at her table and waited for Sun to arrive. It was a classy Mistralian restaurant in the central part of Vale's commercial district; crystal chandeliers hung low from the ceiling, an orchestra was playing classical music, the tablecloths were all fine silk, and a lit pair of red candles provided romantic lighting at each table.

"Perhaps this is a bit much for a first date…" Blake thought nervously to herself. "Well, there's no kill like overkill… I've been spending too much time with Ruby".

Her thoughts were interrupted as she spotted the blond haired Faunus she was waiting for approach her table. He was wearing the the same clothes he normally wore, with the sole exception being the long white tie that ran down the center of his open shirt and over his strong chest and sculpted abs.

"Good evening, Miss Belladonna" Sun said exaggeratedly as he sat in his chair and immediately put his feet up onto the table. "I hope you don't mind that I was fashionably late".

"Oh no, it's fine" Blake replied. "I can tell that fashion means a whole lot to you".

"You like?" Sun asked, picking up his tie a little. "It took me hours to pick out an outfit, but I think it came together just fine. You don't look half bad yourself by the way".

"Thanks" Blake said with a light blush.

"So, what kind of grub do they have here anyways?" Sun asked as he picked up a menu with his tail.

"The usual for a Mistralian restaurant; spaghetti, sushi, gyros…" Blake began to say, but her reading petered out as she briefly glanced across the restaurant and saw something that made her stomach leap into her throat.

Sitting at another table on the other side of the room was her boss Ruby Rose, who was looking through a menu of her own. She was sitting at a couple's table too, but no one appeared to be in seat opposite her.

"Something wrong?" asked Sun, which broke Blake out of her panic induced trance.

"No, nothing at all" Blake lied as she buried herself behind her plastic menu and prayed that Ruby hadn't spotted her.

"Hey Blake!" a voice suddenly shouted from across the room. "Blake! Blake! Blake! Blakey-poo! Blakereno! Blakester! Blakeamundo! Uuuh… Blake!"

She spotted her.

Reluctantly, Blake put down her menu and allowed Ruby to get a good look at her face. This caused the young crime lord to let out an audible squee and rush towards Blake and Sun's table.

"I knew it was you!" Ruby said as she almost tackled Blake out of her chair with a running hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh… I was going on a date with Sun here. Just the two of us. Alone" Blake said, hoping Ruby would get hint even though she knew very well that Ruby wouldn't.

"Really?!" Ruby asked excitedly. "What a coincidence! I'm here on a date too!"

"You are?" asked Sun. "With who?"

"Oh!" Ruby gasped, turning back towards her table. "I almost forgot about them. How rude of me! Hang on a sec, let me introduce you".

She then ran back to her table and came back carrying the chair that was sitting opposite her. Laying in the middle of the seat were two identical sub-machine guns, each sporting a fiery red paint job and longer than usual magazines.

"This is Ogama" Ruby said, pointing to the one on the right. "And this is Little Red!".

"How can you tell them apart?" Sun inquired curiously.

"Oh, that's easy! Ogama is a boy, and Little Red is a girl!" Ruby explained. "Duh!"

"And, uh… how can you tell that?" Sun asked while Blake sat silently mortified across from him.

"Just watch" Ruby said as she took a gun in each hand and aimed them both at a fancy picture of some flowers across the room.

She pulled the trigger on Little Red first and launched a burst of fire towards the painting, which started a small blaze and caused the orchestra to stop playing in surprise. A second later, she fired Ogama as well, eliciting panicked cries from everyone in the restaurant and spread the flames even further across the far wall. Employees quickly rushed to the scene with fire extinguishers and hurriedly began putting as much of the fire out as they could.

"See?" Ruby asked casually. "Little red has a higher rate of fire, but Ogama is more accurate. Just like girls and boys!"

"Really? I couldn't tell" Sun said, completely undisturbed by what had just happened.

"Here, watch again" Ruby said, raising her guns once more.

"Wait!" Blake said as she grabbed onto her boss's hands and prevented her from firing. "We don't have super speed like you do, so we can't see the difference"

"Oooh" Ruby said in realization. "Okay then. Sorry about that, Sun".

"Oh no, it's fine" he replied, feet still comfortably resting on top of the table. "Although… don't you find it a little weird that you're going out with-"

"A boy?" Ruby said, finishing his sentence. "I know, I never thought I'd live to see the day too, but just look at him! He's so sexy! Not that you're not sexy too, Little Red".

Ruby then began to violently make out with the trigger guards of each of her guns, which caused Blake to feel what little dignity she had left begin to leave her body. Eventually, the young redhead was able to pull herself away from her dates just in time for a spark of brilliance to flash across her mind.

"Hey, I've got a great idea!" Ruby said, weapons still dripping with spit. "Why don't we have a double date?! Wait, is it still a double date if there are five of us total? If not, would that make it a double and a half date, or do you just round up to a triple date? Ugh, math sucks!"

"It's okay, you can join us" Sun replied to Blake's horror. "I mean, assuming that no one calls the cops for what you just did, I don't see a reason why not to".

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time they've had to replace that picture because of me" Ruby said as she pulled up a chair alongside her guns and sat down. "Now then, let's finally order some food!"

After a few minutes of looking through their menus, a surprisingly bored looking waiter finally approached the table and asked what each of them wanted. Sun ordered a bowl of spaghetti, Blake asked for a plate of sushi, and Ruby demanded a large order of tater tots.

"You do realize that's from the kid's menu, right?" the waiter asked Ruby after he heard her order.

"Oh, don't worry, I have an ID" Ruby replied as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a driver's license, which indicated that she was only twelve years old. The waiter rolled his eyes in response but wrote down the young gang leader's order anyway on his clipboard before returning to the kitchen.

"Works every time" Ruby said proudly once he was out of earshot. "I can get you a fake ID too if you'd like, Sun".

"I think I'll pass" Sun said graciously. "So, have you and Blake known each other long?"

"No, only a few months, but we're already the best of friends" Ruby said as she wrapped an affectionate arm around Blake next to her. "She's also one of the best homies I've ever had!"

"Is that so?" asked Sun.

"Yep!" Ruby said with a wide smile. "She might not have as high a kill count as me or Yang, but what she lacks in quantity she makes up for in quality. I remember this one time we were fighting CRDL for control of the western suburbs and we were pinned down without any ammo. It seemed pretty hopeless, but did that stop Blake? No siree! She just picked up a lawn dart off the side of the road and chucked it right into one of their eyes!"

Blake could hear the sound of someone dropping their silverware at the next table over.

"Then he started running around like a headless chicken trying to get it out, bumping to his friends over and over and making it go even deeper. You could totally tell by the way he was stumbling that it was already messing with his head noodles" Ruby said in between fits of laughter. "Then, when they finally managed to get it out, Blake just tossed another one into his other eye and made him run around all over again!"

"Wow, that is impressive" Sun complimented, seemingly fine with hearing a story that made a couple vomit onto their food a few tables away.

"I know, and I couldn't stop laughing the whole time" Ruby giggled. "Definitely one of my top ten kills I've ever seen... well, top ten kills that weren't mine, anyways".

"Well, killing isn't the only thing I do in The Saints" Blake said, trying to change the subject to something that didn't make her look like a complete sociopath.

"That's right!" Ruby agreed. "She also spends a lot of her time in her room doing all the computery, mathy things that make my head hurt just thinking about it. Although, she's usually just reading 'Ninjas of Love' fan fiction in her underwear whenever I see her on the computer, but Blake's more than earned if for all she's done for the gang".

A deep blush began covering Blake's face as she felt even more embarrassed than she was when Ruby was talking about her murder skills. That blush was instantly wiped away by Sun's next words, however.

"You like Ninjas of Love too?" he asked, catching Blake completely off guard.

"Uh, yeah" Blake replied timidly. "It's one of my favorite books".

"Aw, sweet" Sun said, clapping his hands together. "Okay, now for the big question; do you ship Danny with Alan?"

"Of course I do" Blake replied with more enthusiasm than before. "They were my first real OTP".

"Mine too!" said Sun. "Who do you think is the seme?"

"Danny, definitely" Blake replied confidently.

"Oh" he said, disappointed. "Well, don't worry, I'm sure we can still figure out a way to get along".

"Agh, so much nerd talk!" Ruby complained. "It's like I'm listening to a bunch of aliens talk, and they don't even have any cool laser guns!"

"Sorry, Ruby, we didn't mean to leave you out" apologized Blake. "We can talk about NoL more later, okay Sun?"

"Fine with me" shrugged Sun. "So, how did the dynamic duo of destruction of Ruby and Blake come to be anyways? I doubt that you just put an ad in the paper for a super hot computer genius with years of Huntress training".

"Well, I did actually, but we didn't get much response" Ruby replied. "No, we actually met at a bar in the eastern commercial district, called The Ca-"

"Excuse me, waiter!" Blake said suddenly, interrupting what Ruby was saying. "Could you, uh… bring us some wine, please?"

"Right away, miss" he replied before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Wow, getting out the alcohol out this soon?" asked Sun. "Now this really is turning into my kind of date".

"It's never too early for a little social lubricant" Blake laughed nervously.

Their waiter emerged from the kitchen a few seconds later holding three bottles of wine, two red and one white, along with three wine glasses. Ruby made sure to flash the man her other fake ID that said she was twenty one on it, but all he did roll his eyes again in response before placing the wine and the glasses onto the table and returning to his duties around the restaurant.

"Oh boy; red!" Ruby said as she reached out to the bottle closest to her. "My favorite!"

She then quickly and unceremoniously uncorked the bottle and wrapped her lips around the end of it as she raised the bottle as high as she could. Drops of the dark red fluid poured down the young crime lord's cheeks and stained her white polo as she gulped down as much as she could in one breath. Finally, Ruby could take no more and slammed the bottle back down, punctuating its collision with the table with a loud and thunderous belch, interrupting the orchestra for the second time that night.

"Aw yeah, that's my juice right there!" Ruby said happily.

"While that was pretty impressive, I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to chug wine, Ruby" Blake pointed out.

"Yeah, but since when did we care about the rules?" Sun asked as he opened the white wine. "Might as well cut out the middle man!"

"Heck yeah!" Ruby agreed wholeheartedly. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Sun said, clanking the tip of his wine bottle with Ruby's.

The two then began guzzling down as much of the sweet nectar as they could and not caring how much of their clothes they stained in the process. Blake looked on for a few moments before deciding that she might as well join in, and began glugging down her own bottle.

Ruby was the first to finish, letting out another burp that was strong but not quite as powerful as her first. Sun's belch followed shortly behind, and his well trained lungs made sure that everyone in the building heard it. The manager of the restaurant watched in despair as people began to leave in response, but she knew it was still preferable to what The Saints might do to her if she kicked them out.

Finally, Blake finished her bottle as well, which caused Ruby and Sun to start staring at her in anticipation. At first it seemed like nothing was going to happen at all, but eventually Blake couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a burp that was louder than either of her friends.

"Bravo!" Ruby said, clapping her hands. "Encore, encore!"

"Wow, it looks like you've got some competition, Sun" a new voice said from behind Blake. "You better watch out, or she might steal your record deal".

Blake turned and saw Yang standing behind her, dressed in her normal clothing and standing alongside three men that she didn't recognize.

"Hi, Yang!" Ruby said, waving. "Are you here on a date too?"

"I suppose you could call it that" Yang said as she pulled up a chair and sat down in between Blake and Ruby. "Though, it's really more of a prefuck snack. Mind if we join you?"

"Of course not!" Ruby replied. "Wait, does that means that this is officially a triple date now? Or is it an octuple or a nonuple date? I need to buy some kind of date calculator…"

"Eh, I've stopped keeping track of that kind of stuff" Yang said before snapping her fingers loudly. "Waiter! I'd like a well done triple pound cheeseburger with Grimm Reaper hot sauce, hold the evil pickles, a large plate of cheese fries with extra cheese, and a diet Dr. Dust. Oh, and get some burgers for my boys too, and don't be stingy with the hot sauce".

"Grimm Reaper hot sauce? Sounds to me like you're trying to kill these boys, not feed them" Sun commented.

"I like to think of it more of a test" Yang explained. "If they can handle eating this fire, then they can handle eating my fire as well".

"I'm sorry, miss, but we do not serve hamburgers here" interrupted the waiter.

"What!?" Yang gasped in shock."How can you even call yourselves a restaurant if you don't have at least two tons of ground cow ass in the back! That's like beer without any booze in it, or a football game without any broken spines! That's it, you're in for it now!"

These words caused the manager to leap behind a potted plant for cover nearby, fully expecting to hear gunshots fill the room in only a few seconds. When the shots never came, she peeked over her hiding place to see Yang furiously typing away at her cell phone as she wrote a scathing online review.

"There!" the blonde haired gangster announced proudly as she hit 'send'. "Let's see if any of my followers come here now!"

The manager let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, and if I don't get my burgers here in ten minutes, then I'll rip out your ribs, turn them into a barbeque, and cook the patties myself" Yang then added casually.

"I'll get them right away ma'am" replied the waiter, his bored tone unchanging.

"...well fuck" Yang said as she watched the waiter walk away. "You'd think he'd shit himself at least a little bit after a Grade A threat like that. Doesn't he know who I am?"

"Well, he does work in customer service" Blake pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if he hears demands like that at least three times a day. Oh, and you better hope he doesn't urinate in your food before he serves it to you".

"Don't worry, I can tell" Yang replied. "So, how's 'business' been going so far for you two?"

"Things haven't exactly gone to plan, but… I'm actually having a lot of fun" Blake said with a smile.

"Yeah, like I've said before, plans have the habit changing when you least expect it, but it's not always for the worse" Yang said. "For example, I planned on going out with just one guy tonight, and look at me now!"

"Well, congratulations, but I think I'll be fine with one man for now" Blake said, motioning towards Sun.

"Ha! That's pretty ironic coming from you" Yang laughed. "I bet you had at least three guys a day back when you were a whore-"

Yang was cut off as the palm of Blake's hand suddenly crashed into the side of her face, creating deafening slap that stunned everyone at the table. The look in the Faunus woman's eyes seething mixture of anger, sadness and, above all, betrayal. Those emotions soon changed to shame, however, as she glanced over to Sun and saw the shocked expression that plastered his face.

"Excuse me" Blake said hurriedly before getting out of her seat and dashing towards the exit.

The table remained quiet for a few awkward moments until Ruby noticed another waiter walking by and took the opportunity to knock him over with a firm punch the stomach.

"Hey guys, look!" Ruby laughed nervously. "I tipped the waiter! Eheheh… he...yeah…"

* * *

It didn't take Sun long to find Blake's car in the parking lot, as it was the only completely black one there. He cautiously walked up to the driver's side door and began knocking on it's darkly tinted window.

"Knock knock" he said, trying to sound playful. "I know you're there. Faunus can see through tinted glass, remember?"

Sun heard the sound of doors unlocking a second later and he walked to the passenger's side door to let himself in. Inside, Blake was curled up into a ball in front of her steering wheel, her keys in the ignition but not yet turned.

"What are you doing here?" she asked dowerely.

"I think the real question is 'What are YOU doing here?' Things were just starting to get fun, and there's no way we were going to keep going without you" Sun replied.

"Really?" Blake said, not looking up from her legs. "I figured you'd never want to see a whore like me ever again".

"Hmm, I guess you're not really as smart as they said you were" Sun said. "Why wouldn't I want to see the most beautiful and interesting woman I've ever met?"

Finally, Blake tilted her head and their eyes met. Neither said a word until the silence of the car was abruptly broken by Blake giggling softly and lightly punching Sun in the shoulder.

"That was a line from one of your songs and you know it, you lazy jerk" said Blake.

"What can I say? It's my number one love song for a reason" Sun stated proudly. "Listen… maybe going out to eat wasn't the best idea. To many things that could go wrong… why don't we just head over to my place and we can read some fan fiction together, just the two of us? What do you say?"

"I think I'd like that" Blake said, a small smile now on her lips. "Could you drive, though? I think I'd rather just relax on the way there".

"Sure thing" Sun said before trying to open his door, but he found that it moved only about an inch before it smacked into something and bounced back shut.

"Oww…" moaned a pain filled voice from outside the car.

Blake got out to see what was wrong and saw that her boss was lying on the ground in front of sun, rubbing the side of her face.

"Ruby?" Blake asked when she saw her. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, uh, you know..." the young redhead said nervously as she averted her eyes. "I totally wasn't spying on you or anything, I was just… crawling around the parking lot to… find some gum!"

"Gum?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's it!" Ruby replied. "Yang said that gum only really tastes good after it's been stuck to the pavement for a while. Ah, here's one now!"

She then pried the black, sticky wad in question off of the ground and began chewing on it. She clearly wasn't enjoying the taste, but she tried her best to wear a wide smile anyway.

"Mmmm, delicious" Ruby lied. "Welp, I better get back to my date. Ogama gets so scared when I leave him alone for too long, and I don't want Little Red seducing some other girl while I'm gone. Have fun reading your nerd books! Oh, and don't worry, I'll just pay for food myself. Toodaloo!"

With that, Ruby activated her semblance and zipped back inside the restaurant, leaving Sun and Blake alone outside before either of them could say a word in edgewise.

"... I wonder what their kids would look like" Sun after a few moments of silence.

"Don't give her any ideas".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you guys think of the chapter? Be sure to let me know if you liked or didn't like it in a comment!
> 
> Chapter beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	21. Chapter 21

Weiss's heels clicked loudly against the hard floors of Beacon's hallways as she made her way to the cafeteria, a furious look engraved onto her face. Each step that she took rang out through the halls like the toll of a church bell, and every Saint she came across willingly gave the woman her space.

Finally, the White haired woman reached the doors of the cafeteria and kicked it open to reveal Ruby, who was hard at work dressing up her two new sub machine guns in frilly doll dresses. After a few moments, Ruby began to feel Weiss's death glare drilling a hole into the side of her head and noticed that Weiss was there.

"Oh, good morning, Weiss. Love your new outfit" Ruby said, referring to Weiss's crimson shirt and pants. "Red looks good on you! Well, red looks good on everything, but 'everything' includes you too!"

"Actually, this is the same outfit I was wearing yesterday" Weiss bitterly replied.

"Really?" asked Ruby. "Wasn't that, you know… white?"

"It was" Weiss said before wringing out one of her sleeves and pouring still moist blood all over the cafeteria floor. "Don't worry, most of it's from Dove's men".

"Oh my god!" Ruby gasped in excitement. "Does that mean you killed him? How'd you do it? Did you carve your initials into his chest with a chainsaw? Or did you have him literally eat Dust by shoving a shotgun down his throat? Come on, tell me! And don't leave out any of the gorey details!"

"Actually, he's probably one of the only people who was there who isn't on my shirt right now" Weiss replied. "I'll have to remember that one about the shotgun, though… I might try that one out the next time we meet".

"Aw pooperdoodles" Ruby groaned in disappointment. "What happened?"

"The asshole escaped, that's what" Weiss angrily explained. "We managed to sneak up on him by the docks but he gave us the slip on a jet ski. For someone who's supposed to be Cardin's best fighter, he sure likes running away. I almost got him too, but his men just kept getting in the way over and over again".

"Don't be sad, Weiss" Ruby said comfortingly as she patted her damp friend on the shoulder. "Any day where I kill over a dozen people is a good day in my book!"

"Two dozen, actually" Weiss said as she swatted her boss's hand away. "Not that it matters, though. I could kill a thousand of those blue bastards and it still wouldn't hurt them as much as losing a Huntsman would".

"Yeah, I guess that's true" Ruby conceded. "If it makes you feel any better, my night didn't go like I planned either".

"Really?" Weiss asked curiously. "You didn't accidentally blow up another ice cream truck, did you?"

"Not exactly" Ruby replied. "As you know, I took Ogama and Little Red here to dinner last night-"

"Wait, you were serious about that?!" interrupted Weiss. "Wait, don't answer that. Of course you were serious. I have no one to blame but myself for this. They didn't refuse to let you in, did they?"

"Actually, they gave me a seat as soon as I showed them my dates, even though I didn't have a reservation. I wonder why…" pondered Ruby. "Anyways, things were going great until I ran into Blake and Sun…"

Weiss's eye involuntarily twitched as she realized what she just heard, and she began to brace herself for the horror story she knew she was about to hear.

"... after that, things started going super awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "Sun was so much fun to hang out with! I can see why she likes him"

Weiss let out a sigh of relief.

"That's great and all, but how exactly is that supposed to make me feel better about my night?" Weiss inquired.

"Well, Yang showed up later with her own dates and things got a little… awkward between her Blake. She called Blake an H.O.R.E." Ruby said, misspelling the word 'whore'.

"Great, that's exactly what we needed in the middle of a gang war; pointless drama" Weiss said as she rolled her eyes.

"How does that h-" Ruby said before being cut of.

"That was sarcasm" Weiss preemptively answered. "Anyways, just keep them separated for a while and I'm sure it will blow over eventually".

"What!?" Ruby said, shocked. "I can't do that! If they stop hanging out together, they might stop being friends! And if there's one thing I'm not willing to sacrifice in this war, it's friendship!"

"Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea?" Weiss asked sardonically.

"Of course!" Ruby replied cheerily. "All we have to do is get them alone together for a while, and they'll be the best of buds again in no time!"

"Why do I get the feeling you saw that on a sitcom this morning?" Weiss asked herself, though Ruby didn't' seem to hear her.

"You nearly killed Dove last night, right?" Ruby asked. "That means he'll probably be laying low for a while, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so" Weiss tentatively replied. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruby asked incredulously. "All we need to do to make Blake and Yang make up is send them on a fake stakeout to find Dove at a place we know he won't be! A 'vegan' stakeout, if you will. That way they'll have plenty of quality time together to workout their problems, and then they'll be closer than a pair of underwear! It's the perfect plan!"

"Agh, I'm too tired to deal with this shit right now" Weiss groaned. "You do whatever you want. I'm going to take a nap".

Weiss then began walking towards the door's near Smiley's shark tank that lead to the dormitories. She was just about to exit when the great white suddenly slammed into the side of the glass and nearly caused Weiss to jump out of her shoes.

"No! Bad girl!" Ruby scolded as she ran up to the tank and began smacking the glass with a rolled up newspaper. "Weiss is not food!"

"I am definitely too tired for this" Weiss stated angrily as she stormed out of the room. "You're paying for my therapy bills if that thing gives me nightmares".

Ruby then starred in disappointment at the scar ridden fish for several moments, as if trying to shame the shark into apologizing. It's cold, black eyes stared back.

"Doh, how can I stay mad at cute face like that?" Ruby said as her face softened and she hugged the side of the tank."Now then, where's a place a manly man like Dove wouldn't be caught dead at…"

Ruby tapped her newspaper lightly against her chin as she thought through her options, but she had trouble coming up with good ideas. Eventually she glanced down at the paper she was holding and noticed that the comic section was on the front page.

"Say, that gives me an idea…"

* * *

"A comic book store" Yang said in disbelief. "You seriously think that Dove is hiding out in a comic book store in the mall?"

"Yep!" Ruby replied happily as she and her sister stood a little ways away from the comic book store in question. "It's the last place anyone would look, after all".

"If you say so" Yang said as she shrugged her shoulders. "So, how much backup am I going to get to help take him down? Fifteen men? Thirty?"

"Uh, actually, we can't afford to have him spot you early" Ruby hastily explained. "So it's just going to be you and one other person for this stakeout. I'd help myself but I have to... brush Smiley's teeth! Don't want them rotting and falling out, after all".

"Heh, sounds good to me" Yang said as she cracked her knuckles. "That means fewer bozos cramping my style. Try not to lose a hand while playing with your little girl, though".

"Don't worry, this baby isn't going anywhere" Ruby said, waving her right hand. "Your partner will be here in just a minute to join you. Happy hunting!"

The young redhead then activated her semblance and sped out of the mall, leaving her sister alone in its white tiled halls. Yang then made her way over to a nearby bench table, sat down, and pretended to look at her phone while keeping an eye trained on the comic book store.

"Oh no" a voice suddenly said from behind her, interrupting Yang's concentration. "I should have seen this coming".

Yang turned around and saw Blake standing behind her, an annoyed expression painted onto her face.

"Oh! H-hey there!" Yang said nervously. "Great to see you!"

Blake didn't say anything and simply sat down beside her coworker. The two then sat there in painful silence as they both stared at the store decorated like a castle in front of them. All they could hear was the sounds of the crowd around them along with the dull creaking of the electronic Beowolf statue standing in front of the shop. After about an hour straight of sitting in silence, Yang finally spoke up again.

"Well, this place certainly suits Dove's style. It's just as lame as he is" Yang joked as she laughed awkwardly. Blake didn't respond.

"Look, Blake… about last night" Yang said as she scratched the back of her head. "I know that it made things a little rough between us, but I just want to let you know… I forgive you".

"... What?" Blake asked plainly.

"I know you've been wracked with guilt about what you did at the restaurant, but it's okay" Yang said consolingly. "I know you didn't mean to embarrass me like that, and freak outs happen even to the best of us. I should know, 'cause I have freak outs all the time. So, let's just let bygones be bygones, okay?"

"Yang, you called me a 'whore' in front of my date" Blake pointed out.

"So? That's what you were, right?" Yang asked.

"Look, Yang, you don't-" Blake began to say, but she was quickly interrupted.

"Hey, there he is!" Yang said, pointing towards the comic book store.

Sure enough, Blake looked up and saw Dove Bronzewing himself coming out of the comic book store with a large group of his CRDL henchmen. Given the archaic way that they some of them were dressed, it looked as if they had just finished a session of Dungeons and Remnants.

"Hell yeah! Let's do this!" Yang said as she reached into her shirt and removed a handgun hidden in between her breasts.

She immediately opened fire on the group of blue gangsters gathered in front of her, which shattered the windows of the comic book store and sent civilians scattering in the process.

"Shit!" Dove swore when he realized what was going on. "These bitches just won't leave me alone. Let's get out of here!"

Dove and most of his blue clad friends took off running through the mall, but two tried to stay and fight. The first merely received a shot through the skull by Blake's expert aim, but the second one wasn't as lucky. Rather than shooting the gangster, Yang decided to save ammunition by picking him up and shoving the man directly into the mechanical maw of the shop's Beowulf statue. Sparks flew everywhere as his body writhed in pain before finally going limp.

"Critical hit" Yang boasted before she and Blake continued to chase down Dove.

The two Saints followed Dove's trail into a lingerie store, where CRDL members were desperately trying to build build a barricade out of scantily clad mannequins. This wasn't nearly enough to stop the blond bombshell, however, as she easily smashed through their makeshift defenses and sent plastic limbs flying everywhere.

Those fake limbs were soon joined by real limbs as Yang tore through Dove's men in every sense of the word. Blake, meanwhile took a much more stealthy approach and took out whatever CRDL members she could with her silenced pistol while they focused on her fiery partner. It didn't' take Dove and his friends very long to run from this store as well, though Yang decided to finish off the stragglers before chasing after him.

"Hey Blake, check this one out!" Yang shouted as held a fistfull of panties in one hand and the throat of one of Dove's friends in the other.

She then proceeded to shove the ball of underwear directly into the man's throat, causing him to start choking. Yang finally released her grip on the man's neck and he tried to run for help, but he just ended up accidentally ramming into a stone pillar in the process. It wasn't long after he hit the ground that his face was as blue as his clothes, and he passed out on the store floor.

"Ha! Now that's what I call a 'panty raid'!" Yang laughed to herself. "High five, Blake!"

The black haired Faunus didn't even look at Yang, however, and just walked past her to continue pursuing Cardin's last lieutenant. Yang let out a frustrated sigh before she picked up a discarded mannequin limb and simply high fived herself with it.

"Hey, what gives?" Yang called out as she caught up to Blake. "Why'd you leave me hanging?"

"Wasn't it you who told me not to let anyone make me feel like shit?" Blake said as she adjusted her glasses. "All I did was follow your advice".

Thier conversation was cut short by the renewed blare of gunfire. This time Dove and his men had taken refuge in a hardware store and they were using aisles of heavy equipment as cover. This didn't stop the two Saints chasing after them from storming straight in anyway, though. Yang tried using her handgun like Blake at first, but she soon decided that it would be more fun to hammer out her differences with CRDL instead.

"Why are you acting like I'm the bad guy here?" Yang asked Blake as she smashed in a man's cheek with the head of her hammer its claw directly into his right eye. "He would have found out you were a whore eventually, you know. If anything, you should be thanking me for getting it out of the way!"

"That's not why I'm upset with you" Blake said as she slit open a man's stomach with a boxcutter. "Well, it's part of it, but it's mostly because you used that word, and that you keep using it. I thought you of all people would understand not to call people 'whores'".

"Hey, all I did was state the facts" Yang said as she ducked behind a large metal toolbox and opened a box of nails. "You fucked people for money, right? That means you were a whore".

Yang then stood up from her hiding place, tossed one of her nails in the air, and smacked it hard with the face of her mallet. The impact sent the pointy piece of metal flying through the air towards the closest CRDL member, nailing him right between the eyes. It didn't take her long to find more targets and she began launching nails towards them as well.

"It means I was a prostitute" Blake clarified as she carefully poured motor oil down one of the store aisles. "You shouldn't call anyone a whore. It's just… wrong".

One of Dove's friends came charging down Blake's aisle shortly afterwards with a large shotgun in his hands and look of murder in his eyes. He was right about to pull the trigger and leave a hole in the the black haired girl's chest, but stopped when he suddenly found himself sliding on the trap Blake had just set. He immediately dropped his gun and desperately tried to regain his footing, and he barely managed to stop himself from colliding face first with the exposed blade of a table saw. That was, until Blake plugged the sawblade in while she sent a shadow clone to push him the rest of the way into it.

By now Dove's men had given up trying to defend the hardware store as well, and had taken cover behind the rocks and trees of the zen garden that made up the mall's central plaza. There weren't many of them left, but reinforcements streaming in from the outside help bolster their numbers.

"There they are!" Dove shouted as he pointed his shortsword towards the oncoming Saints. "Make sure they don't get away!"

Yang was much more concerned with her argument with Blake, however, and so only half paid attention as she shot and mutilated the gangsters around her.

"I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this" Yang told Blake as they fought. "People call me a whore all the time, and it doesn't bother me at all!"

"You killed my brother!" one CRDL goon shouted as he charged towards Yang. "You'll pay for that, you stupid whore!"

"You see?" Yang said as she casually smashed the man's skull against a large rock. "Sticks and stones".

"Well, you haven't been through what I have" Blake replied in between shots. "Roman's pimps used that word to control me and make me stop studying. They told me there was no way a stupid whore like me was ever going to become a computer programmer, and that I should just stop trying. I heard that almost every day for three years, Yang. Try going through that and telling me that words can't hurt you".

Blake's speech had given enough time for three of Dove's men to move in and surround her, but she was able to react before any of them could break through her arua. The first she managed to knock out with a roundhouse kick to the head, and then used the momentum from the kick to slice the throat of the man standing behind her using her stolen box cutter. The third almost managed to shoot Blake in the head with a heavy revolver, but she merely sidestepped the shot before launching her knife into his throat.

"Well shit…" Yang said awkwardly, ignoring the occasional shot that collided with the side of her aura. "When you put it like that… I guess-".

"I guess I have to do everything around here, don't I?" interrupted Dove as he tiredly dragged his sword through the bloodstained sand behind him. "Fine. You assholes want me so bad? Well here I am".

Yang tried to simply brush the brown haired man aside so she could continue what she was saying, but was met with a shockingly strong swipe from Dove's sword that sent her flying back into a large tree, which promptly fell forward and crushed Yang underneath it.

Blake tried shoot Dove with her silenced pistol, but that did very little against against his unweakened aura. The first swipe of his sword naturally only collided with one of Blake's shadow clones, but he anticipated this and his second swing managed to graze the Faunus girl's cheek. Blood started trickling down her face.

"Fuck" Yang swore as she wriggled her way out from beneath the giant stick that had landed on top of her. "This isn't good".

Yang looked around for a way to try and help Blake, but all she saw was Dove's men closing in around her embattled friend. But then she noticed something interesting in the distance; a motorcycle display stand at the far end of the plaza, and a set of keys lying unguarded on a desk nearby.

"Bingo" Yang thought gleefully to herself.

Blake, meanwhile, was still trying her best to hold off Dove. She may have been outnumbered six to one, but she was actually able to use that to her advantage by tricking Dove's own men into shooting him with her shadow clones and stealing their weapons when she ran out of ammunition.

Dove was relentless in his assault, however, and every swing of his blade seemed to come uncomfortably closer to finding its mark. In an act of desperation, Blake tried to kick Dove off his feet with a swipe of her leg but he saw the attack coming and stomped down onto her exposed limb, trapping her.

"About time" Dove said as he raised his sword. "Time to say 'good night'".

The sound of a revving engine interrupted Dove right before he could deliver the final blow, and he managed to turn his head just in time to see the face of Yang's hammer collide directly into his forehead.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Yang proudly announced atop a black and yellow motorcycle.

After she knocked Dove to the ground, Yang proceeded to make sure that none of his men felt left out and gave them all similar treatments. By the time she was done, Dove was the only man wearing blue left alive in the mall, though Yang was determined to change that.

"Agh, what happened?" Dove groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. "My head hurts…"

"Aww, does the little birdy have a headache?" Yang asked as she lowered the back wheel of her motorbike into the man's face. "Too bad! It's about to get a lot worse!"

The brown haired gangster didn't even have time to scream before Yang revved her engine and started grinding her hind wheel against his face. His aura only lasted a few seconds before it broke and bloody pieces of his face began flying everywhere. He tried to push the bike off, but Yang held it firmly in place so all that did was chop his fingers off in the wheel's spokes. After a about a minute he finally stopped struggling and Yang allowed her engine to die down.

"Looks like Dove's finally at peace" Yang said as she walked over to Blake and helped the Faunus to her feet. "So, does that make up for what I said about you?"

"Well... it's certainly a start".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please be sure to let me know what you think of the story in a comment!
> 
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	22. Chapter 22

The dim grey lights of the old car factory turned-compound creaked quietly as they swung over Cardin's head as he sat on an tattered leather couch in what used to be the manager's office. The audible strain the bulbs put on their cords was drowned, however, by the sound of the orange haired gang leader drowning his sorrows in cheap beer as he watched the football game unfold on the TV in front of him.

"What?! You call that a kick?!" he shouted drunkenly towards the television as he impotently chucked an empty beer can at it. "Man, it's too bad they don't have you on their team, Russel. Otherwise, this game would be in the…"

He turned to the chair next to him and his smile immediately decayed when he saw no one there. Not even a ghost.

"Oh yeah… you can't kick 'cause you kicked the bucket… and so did Sky…" he whispered sadly to himself. "... Well, who needs you! Dove was always more fun to talk to than you assholes anyway!"

"Yeah, about Dove…" one of Cardin's men suddenly said from behind him. "You might want to switch to the news…"

Cardin rolled his eyes but changed the channel with his remote anyways, and what he saw caused that remote to fall straight to the floor.

"Good afternoon!" a reporter announced as she stood in the middle of destroyed Zen Garden that was littered in body bags and police tape. "This is Jane Valderamo with a Channel Five special report: 'Open Fire-Sale at the Uptown Mall'. What once was a bastion of tranquility, over-priced sodas and bad spray-tans was transformed into a battlefield today by a shootout between two rival gangs, CRDL and The Saints.

"It all started earlier this morning with an altercation outside of a local comic book store and spread from there, overtaking the building in the worst violence this mall has seen since the last Ebony Friday sale" the reporter continued. "Over a dozen people were killed in the shootout, including infamous gang member Dove Bronzewing. But, in spite of the incredible violence, not a single arrest was made, as the police were unable to arrive at the scene in time.

"In honor of these events, people have taken to calling the chief of police 'Captain Fail-ra' because of her complete inability to stop any of this, and #Fail-ra is trending on social media along with demands that Captain Pyrrha crack down on and eliminate these hooligans as quickly as possible. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we all desperately want to feel safe again, no matter what the cost" Jane said somberly before completely switching tone. "But, on the bright side, throats weren't the only things slashed today! The mall's lingerie store, Vacuou's Secret, has just announced a new sale on women's underwear! Only slightly us-"

"Augh!" Cardin screamed as he punched clean through his TV and cut off the news reporter's ad. "God damn it! I'm going to kill every last one of those bitches! Every! Last One!"

Cardin's mind was aflame in a mixture of anger and alcohol as he imagined all the horrible, wonderful things he'd do to Ruby Rose once he got his hands on her. But, he was able to snap himself out of his fantasy just long enough to notice the sound of feet slowly walking away from behind him.

"Hey!" Cardin shouted to his men as he turned around. "Where do you think you guys are going? We've got some red blood to spill!"

One of the gangsters laughed nervously as he and his group slowly turned around to address their inebriated boss.

"Uh, sorry Mr. Winchester" apologized the one at the back of the pack. "We were just thinking we'd get off this sinking ship before it's too late. No hard feelings, right?"

"What!?" Cardin yelled, somehow even angrier than before. "You think I can't beat them? You think I'm not man enough to handle a few little girls!?"

"No, not at all!" he replied. "Actually, wait, that's exactly why we're leaving. My bad!"

The deserter and his friends weren't even two steps out the door before Cardin threw what was left of his TV onto the ground and started stomping on it.

"I'll show them!" he growled furiously to himself. "I'll show them all! I've got a plan that will teach everyone that no one messes with Cardin Winchester and gets away with it!"

* * *

"Shit, I think I've got sand in my shoes…" Blake complained as she and Yang walked towards Beacon's cafeteria.

"You think that's bad, I think I have some of Dove's bird-brain in mine" Yang replied, gesturing toward her bloodstained boots.

When they entered the cafeteria, they saw that Ruby had set up TV screen in front of Smiley's tank and was busy playing some sort of kart racing videogame with one of her female homies.

"C'mon, c'mon…" Ruby begged the television screen as she mashed the buttons on her controller. "Blue mushroom, blue mushroom… argh! Not another coin! I call hax!"

"Hey there, Ruby" Yang greeted as she walked up behind her sister.

"Oh, you're back already?" Ruby asked in surprise. "Hang on one sec. Pause!"

The young redhead punctuated her last word with a powerful punch to her opponent's cheek, knocking her out instantly and causing her kart to sit motionlessly on the screen.

"So, how did it go?" Ruby asked expectantly.

"Great!" Yang replied. "Turns out your tip was good! That lame duck didn't know what hit him!"

"The tip was good?" Ruby said, confused. "I mean, yeah, of course it was! Was there every any doubt?"

Blake couldn't help but roll her eyes as Ruby laughed nervously in front of them but decided not to burst the girl's bubble.

"So… you guys took him down together, right? As a team?" Ruby asked tentatively.

"Indeed we did" Blake affirmed.

"Yeah, I guess so…" added Yang. "I mean, you're still a team even if one person does all the work, right? In that case, we were the best team ever!"

"Really? You did all the work?" Blake asked playfully. "All you did was make bad puns while I took out most of Dove's men".

"Please, you would have been bird feed if I hadn't saved your ass" boasted Yang. "If I wasn't there, your kill count would have been negative".

"Wow, I didn't think you knew negative numbers existed" Blake joked as she and Yang started making their way toward the dormitory. "I'm impressed. Maybe one day you'll be smart enough to come up with an attack plan that isn't completely suicidal".

"You say 'suicidal', but I say 'awesome'!" Yang retorted.

"Ah… it's always nice to see things work out like that…" Ruby sighed happily as she watched her friends leave. "I should get plans from TV more often! Anyways, let's get back to playing! Unpause!"

Ruby poked the unconscious woman on the cheek, but she refused to move.

"Come on, unpause! Unpause!" Ruby begged as she continued prodding her friend's face. "Aw, darn it! She's not waking up!"

Ruby's whining was suddenly interrupted by Smiley loudly thudding against the glass in front of her.

"Sorry, girl, but it looks like she's still breathing, so no snakie time for you" Ruby apologized. "Although... maybe she wouldn't mind if we gave you a little finger food…"

Ruby began reaching towards the young woman's hands but stopped herself at the last second.

"No, I better not" Ruby said dejectedly. "The last girl I did that to still gives me mean glares when we sit together at the bar. Still, it sucks that she won't wake up. I wanted to keep racing!"

At that moment Ruby's cell phone started buzzing within her shirt pocket, and she took it out to reveal that someone had sent her a text message.

"Dear Ms. Rose" the text began. "Hello, I am Mr. Car D. Ealer, and I represent the Boyota dealership in the western commercial district. We think The Saints are just what we need to promote our latest model, and we want you to star in our new commercial! Be here tomorrow at noon, and we'll negotiate the details! **DON'T BE LATE** or you might miss out on this amazing opportunity!"

"Real cars, huh?" Ruby thought to herself. "That sounds awesome! Maybe they'll let me keep one to race Weiss with! Thank you, cell phone gods! I always knew you were real!"

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right car for me?" a tall, dark skinned man asked as he tapped the roof of the silver vehicle in front of him. "It looks a little… rickety".

"Of course it is!" the car dealer enthusiastically replied, the bright midday sun shining on his wide smile and greasy blond hair. "Don't let her tough exterior scare you, this baby's one of the safest cars on the road today!"

"I'm not so sure about that…" interjected a voice from behind them.

The two men turned around and saw Ruby and her lieutenants all standing by the entrance to the car lot, with Blake standing at the front of the group.

"Maybe it was ten years ago, but it's safety features are definitely outdated by today's standards" Blake explained as she adjusted her glasses. "I do have to give you credit, though; that paint job you gave it _almost_ makes the car look brand new".

The car salesman turned to his would-be customer with an uneasy smile and a laugh, but was met with just a cold stare.

"I think I'll look for a ride somewhere else" the dark skinned man said as he backed away. "See you later…"

"Alright, I'll just be here in case you change your mind" the salesman said with a wink and a wave. Once the ex-customer was gone, however, his tone completely changed. "What was that for?! Didn't you see I was right about to close that deal?!"

"Yeah, Blake, what gives?" asked Yang. "Since when did you care whether or not a civi died in a car accident? You certainly didn't when we hit that one guy on the way over here".

"Eh, what can I say? Poor craftsmanship gets to me" Blake replied with a shrug.

"W-wait a minute…" the car salesman stammered. "Y-you're The Saints aren't you? What are you doing here?"

"We're here for the commercial!" Ruby announced joyfully. "Oh, is that you're newest model over there? It looks so shiny and fast, and it's my favorite color too! I can't wait to try it out!"

Ruby then immediately ran up to the red vehicle in question, which was located right next to the Boyota dealership's main building, and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Mrrrrrr, grrrr, brrrrr!" Ruby growled as she wildly twisted the wheel left and right.

"C-commercial?" the confused salesman asked.

"Yep" Yang said as she casually leaned on the man's shoulder. "I mean, I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't choose me to be the star - I'm the one with the quadruple digit follower count, after all - but it's nice to see that we're finally being recognized for the super celebs that we are".

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed the flabbergasted salesman.

"Not without a contract, we're not" Weiss countered as she slapped a load of papers into the man's arms. "These documents stipulate that we will be paid ten thousand Lien up front and that we're entitled to at least fifteen percent of any profit you make off the models used in the commercials. Oh, and just because I'm a criminal doesn't mean I don't know how to use the justice system to make your life hell if you fuck us on this".

"I don't know, Weiss. Being fucked on a car isn't that bad" Yang quipped half-jokingly.

"Augh! Shut up, Yang!" Weiss groaned as she slapped herself in the face. "No one wants to hear that!"

"Hey, where are the missiles in this thing?" Ruby inquired as she pressed random buttons on the dashboard of her car. "Or the machine guns, or the turtle shells?"

"I'd hate to break it to you, but most normal cars don't come with those kinds of features" Blake explained.

"Aww" Ruby moaned. "Do you at least get a free toy when you buy it?"

"They only do that at drive-throughs you moron!" chastised Weiss.

"Well, aren't car dealerships technically drive-throughs?" Ruby asked in response. "You go in, buy a car, and drive out! Therefore, they're obligated to give me my toy if I buy this!"

"Can't fault her logic there" Blake commented as Weiss slapped herself yet again, which left a growing mark on her face.

"Hey, check this out!" Yang said as she laid down onto the hood of a nearby car and snapped pictures of herself with her phone. "I'm a model car!"

"I think you mean 'car model'" corrected Blake.

"Really? What's the difference?" asked Yang.

"Well, one's completely synthetic and made out of plastic, and the other is sold in toy stores" Weiss clarified.

"Ladies, please!" the car salesman shouted, finally regaining the Saints' attention. "I don't know what has gotten into you, but I assure you that we are not filming any kind of commercial today, let alone one with gangsters in it!"

"Wait… if you didn't call us here, than who did?" Ruby asked curiously.

The salesman was about to tell the young gang leader that he didn't know, but was interrupted by Blake before he could answer.

"Hey, do you guys hear… rumbling?" the Faunus questioned while her cat ears twitched beneath her bow.

"No, not re-"

Ruby's reply was cut short by the car dealership exploding in a hail of glass and bricks behind her as a fully loaded and absolutely massive black and blue semi-truck rammed clean through the building, followed shortly by a repeat performance with the car Ruby was sitting in. Jagged pieces of red metal spewed everywhere as it tore the relatively tiny car to pieces before it plowed through the rest of the cars in its way and escaped onto the road nearby.

"Ha! That'll teach her to mess with me!" Cardin drunkenly bragged as he drove the gigantic truck up a nearby highway on-ramp. "She has to be roadkill after that!"

"Not exactly…" Ruby's voice groaned from somewhere in front of him. "My neck sure feels like it, though…"

"What the hell?" Cardin said in disbelief as he leaned forward and saw Ruby clinging to his radiator grill. "Son of a bitch! What does it take to kill this girl!?"

"Uh, have you ever tried kindness?" Ruby meekly asked as she poked her head over the hood of the Truck.

Cardin's replied by nearly shooting the young girl's face off with a revolver.

"Eheh, I guess not…" Ruby whimpered as she ducked her head back down.

"Hey! Don't you run from me!" Cardin slurred as he kept firing into his own engine block. "Come back here and fight like a man!"

"But I'm not a man! At least, not the last time I checked…" Ruby said, glancing downwards. "Say, you're not driving while drunk, are you? Don't you know how dangerous that is? Someone might get hurt!"

"Shut up!" Cardin ordered with another shot from his gun. "You can't tell me what to do!"

While this was going on, the other Saints piled into Weiss's car as quickly as they could and took off to follow the hulking hauler.

"Wow, I've never seen one so big before…" Weiss said as she closed in on the semi. "It makes mine look like an ant by comparison".

"Aww, don't feel bad, Weiss" Yang said as she patted Weiss's shoulder. "You still have a great personality!"

"Fuck you, this is serious" the white haired girl snapped back. "Our leader is pinned to the front of a six ton monster of a truck by our worst enemy and we don't even know if she's hurt or not!"

"Relax, pipsqueak, we'll be just fine" Yang said casually as she reached for her shotgun. "After all, it's not the size of the boat that matters, it's the motion of the explosion!"

The blonde leaned out her window and opened fire on the fleeing truck in front of them, shooting out one of Cardin's mirrors in the process.

"Shit!" Cardin cursed in surprise after Yang's first shot. "What the hell is that?"

"Oh, don't worry, that's probably just Yang" Ruby nonchalantly explained. "She does that when she wants to get your attention, or she likes you… or she doesn't like you… or she's bored…"

"Well, if it's my attention she wants, she's got it" Cardin said as he reached for his radio. "We've got some uninvited guests, boys! Why don't you show them who really rules the road in these parts?"

At that moment, four large hatches crashed open at each corner of the roof of Cardin's semi-trailer, revealing four men armed with menacing black machine guns. At the same time, the back of the semi-trailer burst open as well, and four men on motorbikes sped out onto the highway, each of them armed with a heavy-duty handgun.

Weiss had just enough time to swerve her ride to the side before the machine gunners on Cardin's truck opened fire, their shots so powerful that they shot clean through the asphalt of the highway and into the neighborhoods below. The motorcyclists had much better aim, however, and quickly shattered the Saints' windows in a barrage of bullets.

"Okay, maybe size does matter…" Yang admitted as she ducked her head.

"Like hell it does" shouted Weiss. "Blake, get out and take down those guns on the truck! We'll handle the rat pack!"

Cardin, meanwhile, was still trying his best to finish Ruby off, but her super speed combined with his inebriation made the task incredibly difficult.

"Not that I want to be a backseat driver - wait, can I even be a backseat driver if I'm technically in front of you?" Ruby said as her head popped up and down in front of Cardin like a duck at a firing range. "Anyways, could you please slow down a little? The air resistance is making it really hard to move, and I've got this itch on my back that-"

"Fat chance, Red!" Cardin cried in between shots. "You had your opportunity when you turned down my offer. Now, all you're going to get is a shallow grave!"

"Oh, I get it! You're still upset that I didn't let you into my 'friend zone', huh?" Ruby asked apologetically. "Yang told me boys get upset about that all the time. Don't worry, I'm sure lots of people would still love to be friends with you!"

"My list of friends used to be pretty long… until I met you" Cardin slurred as he took a moment to reload his gun. "Now, it gets shorter and shorter every day!"

Cardin's rant was interrupted by another loud shot from Yang's shotgun, as she finally managed to kill one of the cyclists surrounding her.

"Bullseye!" Yang cheered as she watched the man's body tumble across the pavement. "Hey, go a little more to the left! I think I've almost got him…"

Instead, Weiss veered her car sharply right as she avoided another burst from Cardin's machine guns, which caught the blonde off guard and caused her to accidentally drop her gun onto the highway.

"Hey! I meant your other left!" Yang complained as she sat back down. "Watch where you're going!"

"Oh, my bad" Weiss faux apologized. "Maybe next time I'll let the bastard put a few bullets in your brain. God knows it'd be an improvement".

"You're calling me dumb?!" Yang asked in disbelief. "I'm not the one who can't drive straight!"

"You think you'd do any better?" Weiss asked bitterly after another swerve. "Be my guest".

"Okay then!" Yang said as she reached over and tried to take the wheel out of Weiss's hands.

"Wait I didn't actually mean it!" Weiss shouted as she struggled to maintain control.

"Too late for take-backs now, Princess!" Yang declared as she kept struggling.

This gave the machine gunners on Cardin's truck the perfect opportunity to line up their sights on the helpless women, but were stopped when one of them let out a sudden cry of terror. The other three gunners turned just in time to see Blake, who'd been scaling the side of the trailer, grab the blue clad gangster by the collar and throw him onto the road below before swiftly taking the man's place.

She managed to take out the gunner next to her with a few well placed shots, but fire from the other two quickly forced her to drop down off the far end of the trailer to hide. Since they couldn't get an angle on her from there, the two men dropped their heavy guns and approached where she was with just their pistols.

They peaked over the edge of the trailer and immediately opened fire when they saw Blake dangling there in front of them. But, instead of falling to the pavement like they expected her to, Blake's body merely disappeared in a puff of smoke and, before they even realized what happened, Blake climbed up behind them and promptly pushed them both onto the road below.

"Let go already!" Weiss demanded as she kept wrestling for control of the wheel. "This is my car, so I'm the one who gets to drive it!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm the one who bought it for you, so it's my car too!" argued Yang.

"That's because you got my last car shot to high hell!" Weiss snapped back.

"Details, details…" Yang said dismissively.

While this was happening the three remaining motorcycles circled around the car in confusion, unsure of exactly what The Saints were trying to do. Finally, two of them just shrugged their shoulders and moved in to take out the girls at point-blank range.

"I said… Let! Go!" Weiss shouted as she finally tore the wheel out of Yang's hands and sent the car into a spin. This caused the car to violently smash against the two motorcycles next to them, which sent them crashing into the concrete barriers that lined the freeway.

The fourth cyclist remained unharmed, however, and was taking careful aim at Weiss's front wheels before his own abruptly burst under a hail of gunfire and sent him and his bike painfully cartwheeling down the road before skidding to a stop.

"So much for taking out the motor cycles, huh?" Blake called out over her smoking machine gun.

"Just shut up and take this maniac off my hands!" Weiss shouted back.

"Hmmph!" Yang harrumphed. "Fine! I fight better up close anyways!"

Back with Ruby and Cardin, the orange haired gang leader continued his attempts to snipe Ruby while his words started to slur more and more together.

"Rustle… Dove… Sky…" Cardin listed with each pull of the trigger. "Because of you, I'll never see any of them again!"

"Now I know what a whack-a-Grimm feels like…" Ruby thought nervously as she popped her head down yet again.

"Alley-oop!" Yang said as Blake pulled her atop the semi-trailer from the top of Weiss's car. "Thanks for the hand!"

"No problem" Blake replied. "Now let's end this crazy race".

"You know, this isn't my first time car-jacking, but this is the first time I've jacked one so big" Yang joked as they walked to the other end of the trailer. "It's so long, and black… and it's packing quite a payload too! I never thought I'd use those words to describe anything belonging to Cardin".

Blake rolled her eyes before she replied "Well, if we don't hurry up, Cardin's 'payload' will end up right in Ruby's face".

Another gunshot from Cardin's revolver punctuated her statement.

"Oh, right!" Yang laughed nervously. "Let's go get that mothertrucker! On the count of three! One-"

The blonde's countdown was never completed, as she nearly found herself tossed from the semi as explosion rocked the side of Cardin's truck.

"What the fuck was that?!" Cardin asked as he looked in his remaining mirror. What he saw shocked him right back to sobriety. "You assholes have tanks!?"

"We do?" Ruby asked popping her head up. "Why didn't anyone tell me?! My kill count would be so much higher with one of those things, and grocery shopping would be ten times as fun! Someone is getting a serious time-out when I get out of this!"

Blake and Yang turned around and saw exactly what Cardin did; three military grade tanks barreling down on them from behind, each with the symbol of the Vale Police Department emblazoned on the front.

"Attention criminals!" a familiar voice bellowed from a loudspeaker on the lead tank. "This is your only warning! Surrender now, or be obliterated!"

"Hey, that's not one of my homies… that's Pyrrha!" Ruby said excitedly. "She must be here to rescue me!"

"Is that why she's aiming for you too?" Cardin asked as another shell came too close for comfort.

"She's just showing she cares, like Yang does!" Ruby cheerfully countered. "After all, the quickest way to a woman's heart is with a bullet!"

Up above them, Yang felt her phone buzz within one of her pockets as Weiss desperately tried to call her.

"Hey, we may have a tinsy-weensie tank-sized problem" Yang nervously reported.

"You think?!" Weiss screamed back. "Tell Blake to get the boss and deal with pigeon-shit over there. You and me are going to deal with the tanks, and if you screw up this time, I swear I'm going to rip off your scalp and use it to mop Beacon's bathroom floors! And not just the girl's!"

"Geeze, touchy…" chided Yang as she hung up her phone. "You go-"

"Dont worry; I heard" Blake replied. "Good luck dealing with the tanks".

"Ha! Luck's got nothing to do with it!" Yang gloated while she picked up two of Cardin's machine guns, one in each hand. "You cops want a piece of me? Well, come get some!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the truck, Blake waited patiently above the driver's cabin of the truck until she heard Cardin's revolver click with an empty cylinder. She then seized the opportunity to swing in through Cardin's open window and deliver a kick square to his jaw. That wasn't nearly enough to knock him out though, and he soon retaliated.

"Yeah, kick his butt, Blake!" Ruby cheered on from in front of them. "Go for the eyes! No, the hair! No, wait, I mean the arms!"

"Ruby!" Blake grumbled as she continued wrestling Cardin.

"Oh, sorry" Ruby apologized. "I guess I was being a back-er, front seat brawler".

After about a minute of struggling, the Faunus woman managed to get the upper hand and forced Cardin's head out the window on his side of the cabin with her hands around the tall man's throat.

"Do you really miss your friends that much?" Blake questioned as Cardin gasped beneath her. "Well, go on and join them then".

Cardin kept trying his best to break free of Blake's grip but, ironically, it was a shell from Pyrrha's tank that ultimately saved him. The round shook the truck just enough to loosen the black haired woman's grip and allowed Cardin to kick her off of his body. But, instead of following up the attack, Cardin merely threw himself out of his window and landed sorely on the road, assphalt first. The police tanks didn't seem to notice him, however, and remained in pursuit of the gangster's truck.

"He got away? Yay! That means I don't have to get another tattoo!" Ruby celebrated. "Er, I mean, oh no! I'm not getting another tattoo…"

"I think we've got bigger problems than that" Blake warned as she reached through Cardin's shattered windshield. "Much bigger".

Her words were slightly muffled by the sound of shells exploding all around them as Pyrrha and her tanks closed in from behind. None of them ever seemed to hit their marks, however, and either exploded uselessly on the highway or landed dangerously in the surrounding districts.

"Ha! You call that aim?" Yang cackled in between bursts of her machine guns. "You might have long barrels, but they won't do you any good without some experience! Let me show you cherries how it's done!"

With that, Yang focused her fire on one of the treads of the rightmost tank, which shook violently as bullets bounced off it until it finally broke and left the vehicle stranded in the middle of the highway.

"One down, two to go!" Yang triumphantly proclaimed as the tank disappeared into the distance.

"One out of three is still an F!" Weiss called out as she continued dodging shots from the tank. "Let me know when you finally have an A!"

"Hmm, it looks like Yang's got things covered back there…" Ruby observed as she glanced into one of Cardin's mirrors. "Maybe we should just let her take care of them? I'd love to try out my trucker lingo on the radio!"

"As 'fun' as that sounds, we shouldn't be taking any chances" Blake advised while she climbed back out the shattered windshield. "You stay here and make sure we don't crash into anything. I'll go give your sister another hand".

"Sounds like a plan!" Ruby said with a thumbs up. "Now don't let those bears treat you too rough now, good buddy, you hear?"

"Ten-four" Blake curtly replied before launching herself onto the roof of the trailer.

"Hmm… you know, if this thing could smash through a building, I wonder if it could smash through a tank too?" Ruby mused to herself once Blake was out of sight. "Let's give it a shot!"

Blake hadn't even gotten two steps onto the roof of the semi-trailer before it suddenly shook as Ruby turned her wheel as far as it could go to the left. The truck was going far too fast to handle such a tight turn, so it didn't take long for it to flip onto its side and start rolling down the freeway while Blake and Yang tried desperately to stay atop it like it was a giant log. Weiss was too busy keeping an eye on the police chasing behind her, however, so she didn't realize that the truck had crashed until her engine block collided with its exposed underside and her steering wheel gave her a mouthful of airbag.

"Okay, I know what you're thinking, but this wasn't my fault" Yang told Weiss as she jumped down from the crashed hauler.

"Yeah… my bad" Ruby apologized as she dragged herself from what was left of the driver's cabin. "I forgot that instant u-turns only work in videogames… but, on the brightside, I didn't crash into anything! Mission accomplished, Blake! Eheh, ow…"

"Maybe it's not too late to sign up as a plumber…" Weiss thought angrily before another explosion snapped her out of it. "Girls! We're going to have to make a stand! Take them out before any reinforcements show up!"

"On it, Weiss…" Ruby replied as she pulled herself from the wreckage and immediately face-planted on the road. "Just as soon as the world calms down and stops spinning…"

"There! Aim for their leader!" Pyrrha ordered from within her tank.

"Yes ma'am!" her gunner replied as she lined up her sights with Ruby's limp body. She was right about to pull the trigger when the officer abruptly found herself aiming at the sky instead.

"Thanks, but no tanks!" Yang shouted beneath the tank as she lifted it above her head. "Blake, take out the other one!"

"Already on it…" Blake replied as she swung a cable with a hook on the end from the totaled semi's motorized winch.

The other tank soon spotted the Faunus woman approaching it and quickly opened fire, only for the shell to collide harmlessly with a shadow clone as the real Blake ran in from the side. She swiftly attached the cable to the hatch at the top of the green vehicle and signalled Weiss to start up the winch.

The tank creaked and moaned as it tried to resist the semi's pull, but it ultimately proved to be futile as the winch slowly tipped the tank forward and eventually flipped it upside down.

"Well, I was hoping to rip it open, but I guess that works too…" Blake said with a shrug.

"Great job, but you think you can help me with this?" Yang quarried as her knees began to shake. "This shit's heavier than it looks…"

"Allow me" Pyrrha offered before stabbing the blonde woman in the chest with her stun baton.

"Kkkkkkkkkinky!" Yang stuttered through a smile before dropping the tank behind her. "So, you like playing dirty, huh? That's fine, I like it rough!"

The blonde then stepped forward as she menacingly beat her fist against her palm. Pyrrha wasn't planning on fighting, however.

"Now!" the redhead shouted back to her crew in the tank. "Take her out!"

The tank once again aligned its sights to the downed and dazed Ruby and the gunner frantically pulled the trigger.

"Oh no you don't!" Yang announced as she uppercut the end of the tank's barrel, bending it upwards and sending its shell flying off into the distance. At first Pyrrha was afraid it was going to land in another neighborhood, but instead it went much further; all the way to the island of Patch.

"That can't be good…" Pyrrha gulped as she heard the sounds of sirens start up in the distance.

"Ooops, did I hurt your little tube?" Yang asked mockingly. "Don't worry, I'm sure they have a cream for that".

"Hey, I got the engine started again!" Weiss interjected over her sputtering vehicle. "Let's get going while we still have the chance!"

"Aww, did you _have_ to wreck all the tanks like that?" Ruby whined as Blake dragged her into the back of the car. "I wanted to drive one!"

"I think life on Remnant would prefer it if you didn't" remarked Blake. "Ready to go, Weiss".

"As am I!" Yang greeted as she shut her door.

"Hold it right there!" Pyrrha ordered as she unsheathed her pistol and opened fire on Weiss's fleeing car. "I can't let you live again!"

"Love you too!" Ruby called dizzyingly back as shots ricocheted off the bumper.

* * *

"Feeling any better, Rubes?" Yang asked as Weiss pulled her car up to Beacon.

"Yeah, but it still feels like my head got tossed in a blender…" Ruby groaned back.

"Well, I hope that at least knocked some sense into you" chided Weiss. "I can't believe you were so moronic that you didn't realize that the 'commercial deal' was actually a hoax!"

"That's funny, I don't remember you figuring out it was a trap either" Yang pointed out.

"Yeah, well… shut up!" Weiss argued back.

"Ouch" Blake stated dryly. "I think she might need time to recover from that comeback, Weiss".

"Hey, Ruby!" one of Ruby's homies called out as she saw Weiss's car approach. "It looks like your girlfriend got fired!"

"You mean Little Red?" Ruby asked back, confused. "So what? She's a gun! She's supposed to be fired!"

"No, I meant that police officer girl!" the woman amended. "Check out the news!"

Ruby and her friends followed the girl back to Beacon's cafeteria, where Jane Valderamo was giving another report.

"Hell on the Highways!" the reporter bombastically announced. "Today, police chief Pyrrha Nikos recklessly attempted to stop a high speed gun battle using military grade battle tanks, which her police officers were ill-trained to operate. This resulted in tank shells being fired directly into Vale buildings and neighborhoods, causing millions of Lien in property damage. One shell even managed to find its way all the way to Patch Prison, blowing a hole in the side of the building that dozens of inmates escaped through. Needless to say, the mayor called for the ex-Huntress's immediate resignation, which she handed in just a few minutes ago.

"I do not know what caused Pyrrha to act so brash and irresponsible, but I am ashamed that one of Vale's finest citizens has fallen to such a new low" Jane continued in the front the ruins of Cardin's truck. "When asked for a comment, former-chief Pyrrha had this to say".

The camera then cut to Pyrrha addressing a crowd of reporters at a podium at Vale's central police station.

"I cannot begin to express how much I regret the decisions I made today" Pyrrha began. "I failed my duty, I failed my comrades and, most of all, I failed my city. But, I promise you all this; no matter what, I will never stop striving to be a good citizen of Vale, and I will prove the myth that every Huntsman becomes a criminal wrong once and for all".

"The mayor has not announced who will be taking Captain Pyrrha's place, but she is expected to announce her decision in just a few weeks" Jane reported after the camera cut back to her. "Until then, this is Jane Valderamo of Channel Five News, signing off!"

"Oh my goodness!" Ruby gasped with a twinkle in her eye as her brain processed what she just saw. "Um, we don't happen to have any open positions available in the gang, do we?"

"Clearly, that truck didn't hit you hard enough" grumbled Weiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that chapter as much as I did! Be sure to let me know whether you did or didn't in a comment!
> 
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	23. Chapter 23

It was a warm summer evening in the upper class neighborhoods of northwest Vale as the dim orange light of the dying sun reflected off the smooth, well kept pavement and into the surrounding marble mansions. Cardin glanced nervously out at this light as he sat in his uncomfortably comfortable chair inside Cinder Fall's finely furnished parlor. He'd been called there a few hours ago to meet the reclusive crime lord, but she still hadn't called him into her office yet. So, he just sat there twiddling his thumbs as he waited on the one person who might be able to save his gang to finally acknowledge he existed.

Sighing loudly, Cardin turned his attention towards the expensive looking cordless lamp sitting on the table next to him. Not that anything in Cinder's mansion looked cheap - even the carpeting looked more valuable than a man's kidneys - but this looked particularly pricey. Its shade was made out a fine, purple silk and a delicately crafted diamond dragon wrapped itself around its solid gold base. Curious to see if it was real, Cardin reached out and lightly tapped the transparent lizard lightly on the head.

It fell off with a soft thud only a second later.

"Oh shit!" Cardin swore as he hastily tried to force it back into place, only for it to fall back off over and over again. He briefly considered searching for some kind of glue, but then he heard the door to Cinder's office begin to jossle open. Panicking, Cardin quickly swiped up the lamp and tossed it underneath him right before the doors finally opened up.

"Sorry about the wait" a dark haired woman in a maid's uniform greeted as she entered the room. "Ms. Fall will see you now".

"Great!" Cardin replied uncomfortably. "You go tell her I'll be there in just a little bit..."

"Are you alright, sir?" the maid asked over the gangster's painful squirming.

"'Course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" Cardin hastily responded. "In fact, I've never felt better!"

"Really?" she asked back skeptically. "Because it looks more like you have a dragon up your ass to me".

"I, uh, get that a lot, actually…" Cardin nervously explained. "I guess I was just born this way, or something…"

"Of course you were…" the maid said dismissively. "Come on in whenever you're ready".

Cardin waited until he heard the doors firmly shut before he promptly pulled the lamp back out from under him and threw it into the nearest trashcan.

"They'll never know it's missing" Cardin told himself as he wiped his hands clean on his shirt. "Now… let's get this over with…"

"Mr. Winchester! So good to see you" Cinder greeted from behind her desk in a black business suit. "Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink? Some tea, perhaps?"

"Uh, sure, why not" Cardin replied, unsure as to why she had just offered him a letter to drink.

"Here you are, sir" the maid respectfully announced as she handed him a teacup on a silver platter. Cardin tepidly picked the cup up and took his first sip, only for him to spit it all out almost immediately afterwards.

"Augh! Tastes like boiled leaves…" Cardin complained as he put the cup back.

"My sincerest apologies" Cinder replied graciously. "Would you rather have some fine wine instead, or perhaps some beer?"

"No thanks" Cardin replied. "As much as I'd love to get hammered again, the last time I did that I almost got turned into street pizza by a tank. So, I'm putting down the bottle until I can drink safely again… once all The Saints are dead…"

"My, such determination!" Cinder complimented. "I like that in a man…"

"Heh, nice pickup line, Cindy, but why don't you just cut to the chase already?" Cardin chuckled back.

"Very well then…" Cinder agreed as she shifted back to a more professional demeanor. "I don't think I need to remind you that your little 'war' with Ruby Rose's gang is going… poorly at the moment".

"Well, maybe… but I'm still in charge of the third largest gang in Vale, you know" Cardin pointed out.

"That's not saying much when there are only three gangs left" the maid argued back before Cinder silenced her with a glare.

"She has a point…" Cinder eventually added. "You may still have that old car factory of yours left, but it's only a matter of time before The Saints take it and there are only two gangs left in Vale. That is, unless you do something about it soon".

"And what would you suggest, Ms. Fall?" Cardin asked curiously.

"I know that you still have quite a bit of money left in the bank, Mr. Winchester…" Cinder revealed as she leaned back in her chair. "All I'm asking is that you share a little bit of that wealth… and to keep sharing for as long as CRDL operates in Vale… and my men will make sure that your wheels keep spinning".

"Exactly how much money are you asking me to 'share'?" the blue-clad gangster inquired as he recalled very similar conversations he had with the late Roman Torchwick.

"Ten million Lien up front, and 85% of your income from now on" Cinder nonchalantly explained.

"What?!" Cardin spat in response, fortunate that he wasn't drinking any of Cinder's tea at the time. "That's outrageous! Do you have any idea how much that's worth!?"

"I don't know...is it worth your life?" Cinder cooly answered. She could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Think about it, Mr. Winchester. The Saints have killed every single one of your best men, and you've barely even made a scratch in their operations. It's only a matter of time before they get to you too" Cinder explained as a shiver ran down her prey's spine. "You want to survive, don't you? Well, I'm the only chance you have left. All you have to do is say 'yes' and we'll take care of everything".

"I… I don't know…" Cardin hesitated as he wondered what to do.

"Come on… you don't want to end up like your pitiful friends, do you?" Cinder argued as she leaned forward in her chair. "Dying pathetically and pointlessly at the hands of some-"

The buiseness woman was abruptly cut off by the back of Cardin's hand colliding squarely with her jaw, which knocked her straight out of her chair and onto the floor.

"Don't you dare talk about my friends that way!" Cardin screamed as she stood angrily above her desk. Cinder's maid immediately started rushing forward but Cinder quickly put up her hand to stop her.

"You know what? You can take your 'help' and shove it right up your ass!" Cardin continued as his shouts filled the billionaire's mansion. "And you know why? Because I am going to kill every last one of The Saints myself!"

"Very well then, Mr. Winchester" Cinder acknowledged as she dusted herself off. "I trust that you can see yourself out then".

"Yeah, I _can!_ " Cardin bragged as he made his way towards the exit. "Also, I broke your dumb dragon thing outside! Later, bitch!"

The doors to Cinder's office slammed shut a moment later, practically shaking the entire mansion as Cardin stormed off into the dying sun.

"So arrogant…" Cinder sneered under her breath as she stood back up.

"Tell me about it!" agreed Emerald, who was suddenly standing in the exact same place the maid used to be. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Of course not" Cinder scoffed. "You know it would take a lot more than that to pierce my aura".

"I know, but you can never be too careful" the green haired girl pointed out. "Do you want me to make sure Cardin has a little 'accident' on his way home?"

"Actually… no, I don't" Cinder replied carefully. "Instead, I want you to gather up some men, disguise them, and have them reinforce Cardin's compound in the industrial district".

""What?!" Emerald gasped in shock. "But why?"

"Well, despite his delusions to the contrary, Cardin's demise is already more than inevitable, and so the best we can do is to try and profit from it as much as we can" the crime-lord calmly explained. "I was hoping we could wring a few Lien out of him before he passed away, but we can still use this to our advantage. Go and make sure they do as much damage to The Saints as possible before they're all snuffed out, and see if you can't take out some of their Huntresses as well. Every man they lose will make the moment we finally take them down all the easier".

Emerald thought about this for a few moments before a smile slowly creeped onto her face.

"Now that's a plan I can get behind!" she hummed while on her way to the door. "I'll start getting ready now".

"Very good, but try not to take too long" Cinder warned as she sat back down. "Our canary is already running out of air, and The saints are probably preparing their attack as we speak".

* * *

"Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…" Ruby rose snorted into her pillow as she slept comfortably in her bed. It was an unusually cold night that day, but her trusty pink footie pajamas made sure that her entire body was nice and cozy. A massive Ursa teddy bear squeaked in young gang leader's arms as she squeezed it into her body, followed by a soft ringing as the bells atop her long bunny ears jingled above her hood.

"Yes, Mr. Bear… of course I'll pick bullet-berries with you…" Ruby quietly mumbled in her sleep. "Right after I knit some guns with Mrs. Elephant…"

Suddenly, Ruby's semi-peaceful slumber was cut off by a loud banging on her bedroom door.

"Aw… five more minutes…" Ruby whined as she tucked herself even deeper into her sheets.

"You do realize that's what you said ten minutes ago, right?" her sister's voice asked on the other side of the door.

"I meant that in dog minutes…" Ruby groggily clarified. "So you should come back in a few normal hours… or something..."

"Ruby, we don't have time for this! We're already over an hour late!" Weiss's voice piped in. "I'm afraid our men are going to start snorting Velvet's merchandise again to pass the time, and I do _not_ want any casualties before we even _reach the fucking compound!_ "

"I'll be right there…" Ruby noncommittally grunted back. "Just let me rest my eyes… for a little bit longer…"

"Augh, this his hopeless!" Weiss groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine then… I guess I'll just have to kill Cardin without you…" Yang sighed exaggeratedly as as she leaned on the wall next to Ruby's door. A loud thud then suddenly resonated within the room and the door slowly creaked open a few seconds later.

"Ha! I had a feeling that'd wake you up!" Yang laughed as her sister entered the hallway.

"Whose bright idea was it to attack CRDL at 3 AM anyway?" Ruby yawned as she inspected her sub-machine guns.

"Yours, remember?" asked Yang.

"Oh, right…" Ruby muttered bashfully. "Okay then, let's do this!"

"What!?" exclaimed Weiss. "Aren't you going to get changed first?"

"Well, you were the one who said we don't have any time to lose, and changing clothes would take time" Ruby explained. "Besides, this way I won't have to change when I get back! Now let's go rally the troops!"

"Fine!" Weiss groaned as she followed behind Ruby. "But if I end up dying of embarrassment out there, _please_ don't try to revive me".

It didn't take them long to reach Beacon's cafeteria, where the other Saints were preparing for the attack. All around them, dozens of men and women checked and rechecked their guns, or at least pretended to when they weren't sneaking sips from their beers or looking at their phones. In the center of them all was Blake Belladonna, who was busy typing away at her laptop in front of Smiley's tank.

"Good news! I finally got Sleeping Beauty here out of bed!" Yang announced as she walked up to Blake. "Are the scrubs ready too?"

"Indeed they are" Blake replied, shutting her laptop. "Actually, they've been ready for-"

"No they're not!" Ruby abruptly interrupted. "Not until they've gotten one of my patented gang rallying speeches, that its!"

"Oh, this can't end well…" bemoaned Weiss as Ruby stood atop a nearby chair.

"Attention homies!" Ruby screeched at the top of her tiny lungs. "How are you all doing today?"

Her gang didn't reply and simply stared back in silence.

"That's great!" she continued unabated. "Now, I'm sure some of you are a little bit scared about the upcoming attack on the last of CRDL's territory, but I'm here to tell you that you've got nothing to worry about! I mean, sure, they're a group of extremely dangerous criminals with nothing left to lose and nowhere to run who're barricaded inside a concrete deathtrap with god-only-knows how many guns, but that doesn't mean we have to worry about it!"

A woman in the crowd gave an awkward cough.

"Yeah, I guess when you put it like that, it's sounds pretty bad…" Ruby conceded. "But we still have this in the bag! After all, we still outnumber them a bazillion to one-"

"Actually, I'd estimate that it's closer to 1.2 to one-" Blake interjected before being interrupted herself.

"Still doesn't matter!" Ruby shot back. "And do you know why? 'Cause we're the motherfucking Saints, baby, the most badass gang in all of Vale!"

The young crimelord punctuated her statement by striking an 'awesome' pose, loudly jingling the bells at the end of her bunny ears in the process.

"If we work together, then there's nothing we can't accomplish! WE can walk on the moon, drain the deepest ocean, even make broccoli taste good!" proclaimed Ruby. "And… We. Will. Kill. Cardin. Tonight!"

This actually seemed to inspire the gang enough to actually start clapping a little, but that didn't last very long as their leader continued.

"Uh… actually… by 'we', I mostly mean me and my three lieutenants here" Ruby clarified. "You guys don't stand a chance against a Huntsman like him… but, if you're lucky, your death rattles might just distract him long enough for one of us to get in a good shot!"

Once again, Ruby was met with silence.

"Uh… I think that's enough 'inspiration for one day, Rubes..." Yang suggested behind her.

"If you say so!" Ruby agreed before jumping down from her seat. "Alright everyone, let's hop to it!"

* * *

Cardin's fingers tapped softly on the top of his large, black mace as he sat alone in his office. Normally he'd be watching something on his wide-screen TV right about now, but instead it lay silent as he listened intently the clock on his wall. Each second felt like an eternity as he waited for something, anything to happen. Finally, the deathly quiet was interrupted by a frantic banging on his door.

"They're here!" a voice shouted on the other side. That was all he needed to hear.

He stepped out into the main floor of the factory just in time to see his men began firing outside through holes in the boarded up windows. He could see of few of his men trying to move a heavy looking crate in front of the main door, but that proved to be pointless when a large red truck suddenly smashed the entrance open.

"Knock knock, motherfuckers!" Yang shouted from the driver's seat. "I hope you don't mind if I let myself-"

The blonde was suddenly cut off as Cardin's mace collided with the front of her car, sending it hurtling backwards until it came to a violent stop at the building across the street. The crash was so loud that gangsters on both sides couldn't help but stop and stare at the destruction.

"Oh truck…" Ruby swore under her breath from behind her car.

"Well? Don't just stand there, you idiots! Keep firing!" Cardin ordered as he got out of the way of the entrance.

The Saints had just enough time to duck back behind their cars before Cardin's men tore them to shreds with a hail of Dust and the firefight reignited in full.

"Well, there goes Plan A!" Weiss cursed as she unloaded her assault rifle into the side of the building. "You ready for Plan B?"

"I was born ready!" Ruby replied next to her as she picked up an RPG and aimed it towards the side of the building. The rocket fired a second later and blew open a hole in the side of the factory, sending shards of brick and rebar everywhere that eviscerated anyone who was unlucky enough to be standing on the other side.

"Now's our chance!" Blake called out from the other side of the street as she broke from cover. "Get inside before they can regroup!"

Most of the rest of The Saints followed in behind her except for Ruby, who was still kneeling behind her car with her red sub-machine guns.

"Okay guys, it's time for your big debut!" Ruby whispered as she stroked the guns' barrels. "Don't be scared, Ogama, I'm sure you'll do just fine! And remember, Little Red; play nice, but not _too_ nice!"

With that, Ruby activated her semblance and dashed into the factory to find her first target. It didn't take long to find him standing behind a small wooden crate and she eagerly opened fire. While many of her bullets found their mark, many more shot past the blue clad gangster and into the barrels of Dust behind him, which ignited and incinerated anything nearby - including several expensive looking cars.

"Ruby! Watch your fire!" Weiss complained behind an old engine block. "We need to at least _try_ to salvage some of this stuff to sell later!"

"There's nothing we can do, Weiss" Blake commented from nearby. "Some girls just want to watch the world burn".

"Ahahahaha!" Ruby laughed maniacally as she sprayed the room with bullets. A few CRDL members tried to get a few shots off at her, but she was too quick and forced anyone who tried right back into cover. "This feels just as good as I thought it would! I wish I could keep this up forev-"

Ruby's rampage was abruptly cut short by a deafening sound ripping through the factory, a sound that was very out of place for the industrial center of one of the world's biggest cities. The sound of howling.

"Uhh… what was that?" Ruby asked as she lowered her guns.

"What was what?" Blake asked in between volleys.

"You know, the how… how…" Ruby trailed off. "... how the fuck?"

Standing there in the middle of the factory in front of her was something the young gangster never thought she'd live to see, something she had only heard fairy tales about: a living, breathing Grimm. A Beowolf to be more exact, whose orange eyes glowed behind its bone-white mask and whose fur was as dark as the blackest night. It's fangs glistened against the factory lighting as it hulked it's way towards her, it's claws already bared and ready to slice her in two.

"Whoa…" Ruby marveled as she ignored the bullets whizzing past her head. "This day just got ten times better…"

The Beowolf didn't waste any more time and charged towards its pink prey with jaws wide open. Ruby was more than trained for this situation, however, and expertly jumped to the side as she fired over a dozen bullets into it. But, by the time the last shot left Ruby's barrels, the Grimm was already gone.

"What in the world?" Ruby asked as she surveyed the 'Safety First!' sign she had just shot up.

"Uh, it's nice that you're getting your target practice in, Boss, but there are a lot betting things in here you could be shooting at!" Weiss pointed out while reloading her gun.

"B-b-but... Beowolf… right there!" Ruby stuttered as she dashed her way over to Weiss.

"Beowolf?" Blake asked in confusion. "But I thought CRDL didn't sell drugs".

"No, I meant a real Beowolf!" Ruby said exasperatedly. "With claws and fangs and an insatiable bloodlust for adorable redheads!"

Both Weiss and Blake stopped their firing and took a moment to glance at each other.

"Uh… no one's seen a Grimm in over three years, Ruby… and I am certainly no exception to that rule" Blake pointed out.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Boss?" Weiss asked, concerned. "Maybe waking you up this early really was a bad-"

Suddenly, Ruby raised her guns up next to Weiss's head and pulled the trigger, sending a hail of bullets right past her ears and into the pile of cinderblocks sitting behind her - or, as Ruby saw it, into the massive Ursa standing over her.

"Ah!" Weiss cried out in pain as she dropped to the ground with her ears covered. "What the fuck, Ruby?! That fucking hurt!"

"Phew, that was a close one!" Ruby sighed as she wiped her brow. "No need to thank me, Weiss! That was all in a day's work!"

"What?!" Weiss shouted back, but Ruby was already off firing at more imaginary monsters elsewhere in the factory while Saints and CRDL alike looked on in frightened confusion.

"What the hell is she doing? Is she nuts?" Cardin asked when he noticed what was going on. "Well, I guess I should put her out of her misery…"

With that, Cardin stepped forward and raised his mace over the oblivious girl's pajama-wearing head, only for Yang to dive in at the last second and tackle Ruby out of the way.

"Oh no you don't!" Cardin shouted as he tugged his mace out of the concrete floor, only to find half a dozen Saints suddenly standing in his way.

"B-back off, man!" a woman holding a large revolver threatened at the head of the pack. "One step closer and I'll blow your fucking head off! I-I mean it!"

Cardin, however, did not back off, and simply beat the handle of his mace against his free hand as he towered over them. A CRDL member with green hair saw this nearby and couldn't help but let out a nice, big smile.

* * *

Ruby let out a loud "Oof" as her sister slammed back into a control console, inadvertently starting the machinery of the factory back up. Ruby didn't have time to notice that, however, as she was too busy trying to escape from the terrifying Death Stalker that sounded strangely like her sister.

"Let me go, you overgrown lobster!" Ruby cried out as she struggled to get its claws off her. "You'll never take me alive!"

"It's me, Ruby!" the Death Stalker shouted back over the sounds of machinery and gunfire. "Snap out of it!"

Giving up on trying to reason with her, Yang pulled back her fist and punched the redhead right in the cheek, dazing her for a few seconds as she tried to reorient herself.

"Yang?" Ruby asked as her visions of Grimm steadily faded out. "What's going on? Where did all the Grimm go?"

"There aren't any Grimm, Ruby!" Yang hastily explained. "You were just seeing things!"

"Oh..." Ruby said in realization. "Does that mean all these stars are fake too?"

"Yeah…" Yang said awkwardly. "That's _probably_ a result of the concussion I just gave you… sorry about that…"

"Eh, it's probably no-biggie" Ruby shrugged. "Besides, at least I can fight for real now!"

Yang then released her grip on Ruby's shoulders and the young girl immediately face planted onto the floor in front of her.

"Hey, Yang, since when was the ceiling on the floor?" Ruby mumbled from the ground.

"Oh boy…"

* * *

Cardin, meanwhile, was now practically standing on top of the six gangsters standing in his way and not a single one of them had mustered up the courage to actually pull the trigger yet.

"Uh… f-fifteen steps is okay, I guess, but sixteen is where I draw the-" the woman with the revolver began to say before Cardin's mace abruptly collided with the side of her skull. The impact was so strong that it actually ripped her head off her shoulders and into the Dust fire Ruby had started earlier. It was fortunate that she didn't have lungs anymore, because otherwise the place would have been drowned out with her screams.

Finally the Saints around her began to open fire, but by then it was far too late. One unlucky man was struck so hard that he embedded into a nearby wall, while another had his skull caved in. Two more he managed to take out with a single swing as they uselessly fired their machine guns and a final woman tried to sneak up on him with a shotgun. The first blast managed to hit and leave a pretty decent dent in his aura, but Cardin promptly turned around and grabbed her by the throat. Then, putting his mace down for a moment, he used his free hand to tear an electric welder off a nearby robotic arm and shoved it right into the Saint's sternum, burning a hole right through her chest.

With the pests finally out of the way, Cardin picked up his mace and focused his attention back on Ruby, who was still trying to regain her balance.

"Woah!" Ruby gasped as she accidentally ducked under Cardin's weapon. "Hold on for just a sec, I need to stop myself from tossing my cookies…"

By then the massive man was already preparing for his next strike but stopped when he heard a voice shout from behind him.

"Hey, Cardin!" Yang called out as she ripped a robotic arm off it's perch. "Catch!"

Unfortunately for her, Cardin was able to do just that, and threw the heavy metal arm right back at her. This not only knocked the wind out of Yang but also sent her flying a few feet backwards into a rack of tools behind her, which didn't make the impact any more comfortable.

"Hey! You stay away from my sister!" Ruby shouted as she raised her weapons and unleashed a hail of bullets. Absolutely none of those shots came anywhere near their mark, however, and Cardin simply stood there with a confused look on his face.

"Huh? How did you do that?" Ruby asked as she rubbed her sore head. "And since when were there so many of you?"

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this…" Cardin said as he started started moving forward.

Ruby laughed fightendly in response and started backing up, not noticing the moving conveyor belt behind her until she had already tripped onto it and it started carrying her away. Unfazed by theses events, Cardin just kept on walking and hopped onto the conveyor belt behind her.

"This isn't good…" Blake complained as she tried to fire her pistol around the factory's moving machinery. "There's a lot more CRDL members here than I thought there'd be, and all this noise is starting to hurt my ears…"

"What was that?" Weiss screamed next to her. "I can't hear anything!"

"... nevermind" Blake sighed as she ducked back into cover. "I just hope Ruby's doing okay…"

"'Scuse me, pardon me, coming through!" Ruby apologized she ducked and weaved around robotic limbs and stepped over firing guns as she was carried by on the conveyor belt Weiss and Blake were using for cover. Cardin was not far behind her, but he had trouble getting in a good hit with so much going on around him.

"Ruby!" Blake gasped. "What on Remnant are you doing?"

"Uh… fighting a boss… I think…" replied drunkenly. "I'll let you know when I'm sure…"

Blake tried to get up and help Ruby but was immediately met by a shot to the shoulder. It didn't pierce her aura, but it hurt enough to cause her to duck back down and watch helplessly as Ruby and Cardin were pulled through a passageway into the next room as CRDL members kept flooding in.

"Don't worry, I'll be just fine!" Ruby called out just before she disappeared. "See you soon!"

The new room Ruby was shuttled into seemed pretty similar to the other one, only there was less equipment and many more expensive looking cars. It also appeared to be empty, but that's only because neither she nor Cardin noticed the green haired girl who quietly followed in behind them.

At last Cardin managed to get enough space to swing his mace in full, colliding with Ruby's chest and sending her crashing into the hood of a fancy blue car. She managed to regain her bearings just in time to see the red crystal at the center of Cardin's mace begin to light up. So, she quickly activated her semblance and ran away as fast as she could, barely escaping the worst of the explosion.

"Wow, that was _close_ …" Ruby said to herself as she dusted herself off. "Hey! Everything's right-side up again!"

It was only then that she noticed her hair was standing straight 'up' into the air.

"Wha-oh" Ruby said before she plummeted back towards the ground and straight into Cardin's arms, who immediately latched onto her pink throat.

"Uh… what's up, doc?" Ruby asked with a smile.

* * *

Back in the main room of the factory, things weren't going very well for The Saints as their numbers seemed to thin with each passing second.

"Shit!" Weiss cursed as she noticed a lack of bullets exiting the barrel of her gun. "I'm out! Hand me another clip, Karen!"

The Saint next to her moved to do as Weiss said, but ultimately stopped when a bullet passed straight through her brain and she plopped loudly onto the floor.

"Well? I'm waiting!" Weiss whined impatiently before finally turning to the side. "Oh… nevermind then…"

"I think it's about time we stepped things up a notch…" Blake suggested as she leaned down and took some grenades out of her purse. "I toss them and you speed them up with your glyphs. Sound good?"

"You do realize that I have _no_ idea what you're saying, right?" Weiss asked back.

Blake just rolled her eyes in response, unpinned one of the grenades, and tossed it into Weiss's hands.

"Wha!" the white haired girl panicked. "Get that away from me!"

She then stood up from her spot and frantically threw the grenade forward, making sure to create a glyph to ensure that it ended up as far away as possible. This ended up landing the explosive right in the middle in a crowd of Cardin's goons, who didn't notice it until their legs were halfway to the ceiling. When Weiss ducked back down, Blake was sure to give her a quick thumbs-up.

"Oh…" Weiss said in realization. "Well, why didn't you just tell me that's what you wanted me to do?!"

"Just keep tossing grenades, okay?" Blake said as she pulled another pin and handed it to Weiss.

"Shit!" a man in blue swore as he jumped out of the way of another explosion. "Someone, bring out the big guns!"

"I'm on it…" another man replied as he trudged out an RPG. He almost managed to get his shot lined up with where Blake and Weiss were hiding when suddenly something hard and metallic cracked into the back of his skull.

"Ha!" Yang laughed as she stood above him with a robotic arm. "That just goes to show; no one beats Yang Xiao Long at an _arms_ race!"

The man's hand was still on the trigger, however, so the gun still ended up firing as he slumped to the floor. The rocket ended up colliding with a fuse box on the other side of the room, taking out the power to the entire factory and shutting off the lights.

"Yang!" Weiss shouted in the distance, instinctively knowing that this was somehow the blonde's fault.

"Uh, my bad!" Yang swiftly apologized.

* * *

"Sooooo… how'ya been, Cardy? Having a nice night?" Ruby awkwardly choked out as she dangled from Cardin's arm. "Well, I guess it's technically morning now, which doesn't really make much sense since the sun hasn't ris-"

"Oh, I'm doing just fine…" Cardin smiled as he tightened his grip. "In fact, I've never felt better…"

Thinking fast, Ruby came up with the most brilliant plan that she could to get herself out of the situation.

"Hey, look over there!" Ruby said as she suddenly pointed behind Cardin.

He didn't look away, though Ruby didn't seem to notice that.

"Ayayayayayayayae!" Ruby cried as she unleashed a 'surprise' barrage of chops and punches into Cardin's chest, to absolutely no effect. Slightly annoyed, Cardin decided to shut her up with a firm slap to the cheek.

"Nice try, bunny girl, but you're not going anywhere" Cardin threatened as he pointed a finger towards Ruby's face. "Not until I've made you pay for every one of my friends that you've-"

Cadrin cut his speech short when he suddenly felt Ruby's teeth clamp around his index finger like it was a carrot, causing a sharp pain to shoot up his arm.

"Ah! Get off, you little freak!" Cardin screamed as he waved Ruby around the room, but she refused to release her grip. Eventually he managed to swing her hard enough to fling her away, but not before she managed to draw some blood and he was left with a bloody finger.

"Augh, you bitch!" Cardin swore, clutching his hand. "You know, it's appropriate that you're wearing that rabbit getup, since you're such a dirty rat! No wonder you like hanging out with those fucking Faunus animals!"

"Well, first of all, bunnies are lagomorphs, not rats! Trust me, I know my adorable, fuzzy creatures" Ruby corrected as she shakily stood back up. "Secondly; I may fight dirty, but I fight to win! So bring it on!"

No sooner had Ruby said this that the entire room inexplicably dissolved into darkness, as if she were standing in the middle of the void.

"Oh crudcakes…" Ruby cursed as her arms drooped in depression.

A second later and she heard the familiar sound of Cardin's thundering footsteps barreling towards her, and she quickly leapt out of the way - right into the side of a car.

"Ow…" Ruby groaned as she pried herself, but she didn't have much time to recover as she heard something running towards her yet again. This time when she looked she saw another towering Beowolf barreling towards her, so she lept back in the other direction and ended up getting a mace in the back of the head for all her troubles.

"Ah!" Ruby cried out as as her aura nearly broke and she jumped off in a random direction.

Flashes of light filled her eyes yet again as she struggled to see through her hallucinations, and she was just barely lucid enough to make out the sight of Cardin charging his mace up for another explosive attack. She did manage to duck underneath the blast, but it still knocked her off her feet and she found herself face-to-floor for the second time that morning. Cardin didn't waste any time this time, though, and quickly raised his bludgeon for the killing blow.

And that's when the power went out.

"Huh? What the hell?" both Cardin and the mysterious green haired woman said in unison as they both blind as bats in the dark room. Ruby's eyes were already partly adjusted to the dark, so she had no problem making out her sub-machine guns next to her now that her visions were suddenly gone.

"Need a light?" Ruby asked casually took aim. "Allow me!"

Cardin's arua was still had enough power in it to deflect the first few bullets, but it didn't take long for two of them to hit their mark and sink themselves into his right shoulder.

"Shit!" Cardin cursed as he dropped his weapon and started clutching his right arm. Ruby would have kept firing but found that Little Red's magazine had already been spent.

"This isn't over yet, punk!" Cardin shouted as he made his way back towards the other part of the factory. "Not by a long shot!"

When he tore open the door, however, his men weren't waiting for him on the other side. Instead, all he found was Yang smiling back at him as she cracked her knuckles. .

"That's where we'll have to disagree" Yang smirked as she raised her fist. "Nighty night!"

A moment later and Cardin hit the ground like a sack of bricks, shaking the entire factory as his weight came crashing down. Deciding that this was probably the best time to make her exit, the green haired girl quietly made her way towards a side exit and left the fallen crime lord to his fate.

* * *

"Huh… what…" Cardin groaned as he struggled to wake himself up. "What happened… wait… what's this?"

Even though his head still badly hurt, Cardin could already tell that his legs were bound in chains and his arms were tied behind his back. Looking around, he saw that he was on stuck on top of one of the factory's many conveyor belts and that The Saints somehow managed to get the compound's lights and power working again. Glancing down, he noticed that Ruby Rose was was currently busy watching cartoons on her cell phone while her friends, her bunny ears jangling merrily as she laughed at the antics onscreen.

"Ahahah! That cat gets me every time…" Ruby laughed before glancing up. "Oh, you're awake! Finally! Hey girls, let's get this show on the road!"

"About damn time!" Yang commented from behind him. "And here I was thinking that I knocked the poor bastard into a coma!"

"I still think you should have just killed him earlier" Weiss argued as she rubbed her recovering ears.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Blake added dryly.

"W-what's going on?" Cardin asked as he struggled against his bonds. "Let me go, you bitches!"

"No can do, Cardy!" Ruby merrily replied. "We wouldn't want you to miss your going-away-party, after all!"

"Party?" Cardin asked in confusion.

"Yep! Only the best for someone who's been so fun to play with these last few weeks!" Ruby explained. "And I certainly don't want to miss the look on your face when you get your big present!"

Cardin tried once again to somehow escape from his bonds, but a cocking sound behind him from Blake's gun let him know that he wasn't going anywhere even if he did get loose.

"I'm so glad that you woke up when you did, by the way" Ruby continued. "I was getting super bored! Plus, I've been drinking lotsa caffeine to try and stay awake, and now I _really_ have to go pee-"

"Then just get it over with, already!" Weiss interrupted. "You're not the only one who has things to do tonight, and it's only a matter of time before the cops finally show up!"

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Ruby apologized. "Yang, why don't you show our new buddy his consolation prize!"

"Can do!" Yang answered as she turned on a license plate press further down the conveyor belt. "There! She's all ready to go!"

"Bon voyage!" Ruby smiled as she activated the conveyor belt. "Have a nice stay in hell!"

"Oh fuck no! Let me out of this!" Cardin screamed as he tried one last time to escape. He could hear the thumping of the press as it moved up and down grow louder as he was dragged inevitably towards it. "Let me go, or you're all going to pay!"

Ruby didn't say anything and merely giggled as his demise continued marching closer, until he was finally right beneath the press.

"No!" Cardin screeched as he saw it lower onto him. "No no no no no no noooooo!"

"Ahaha!" Ruby cackled maniacally as the press slowly and painfully punched a hole through the man's chest and blood splattered everywhere. " _This_ is what I was talking about! Oh man, this makes drinking all those energy drinks totally worth it!"

The press didn't wind up killing Cardin instantly, though, and he kept struggling for about a minute as he felt his blood trickle down his chest. Eventually he just couldn't take it anymore stopped fighting, his body going limp as the last of his life drained out of him.

"Whoo, that was good!" Ruby sighed as she wiped her eye. "Okay, lift it back up, Yang! It's time to see my handiwork!"

Yang turned off the machine and roughly yanked the press off the dead man's chest, revealing the phrase 'RWBY-ROSE' punched into his upper chest in bloody capital letters.

"See, Weiss!" Ruby said proudly as she crossed her arms. " _That's_ how you take care of a-"

"You spelled it wrong" Weiss curtly pointed out.

"Huh?" Ruby grunted.

"Your name, dumbass!" Weiss sneered. "You put a 'W' instead of a 'U' in 'Ruby'!"

"Oops…" Ruby as she finally noticed her mistake. "Well… 'W's are still technically 'U's, but double, right? That means I spelled it even more correctly than normal! So there!"

"Can't fault her logic there" said Blake.

"Fine, whatever" Weiss groaned, giving up. "I'll go tell our men that they can all go home now… or what's left of them, anyway".

"Yay! That means I can finally go back to sleep!" Ruby cheered as she stood up from her chair.

"Actually, that probably won't be a good idea until you've seen a doctor or something" Yang intervened. "After all, you did get your head knocked around pretty badly just now".

"Aw…" Ruby groaned as her body drooped. "So much for going back to dreamland…"

"We should probably get your general mental state checked out while we're at it. You weren't exactly yourself tonight, Ruby, even before the hits to head" added Blake.

"What!?" Ruby gasped in surprise. "You guys don't think I'm crazy, do you? 'Cause I'm totally not!"

"Says the girl wearing a bloodstained bunny outfit who hallucinates extinct monsters" teased Yang. "Face it, Ruby; you could probably use a little help right about now".

"Ugh… fine…" Ruby moaned, defeated. "But I better get a lollipop after this…"

* * *

Emerald was unsurprised to see her boss, Cinder, still working in her office by the time she returned home from Cardin's compound. She liked playing things cool and relaxed, but there was little doubt in how dedicated Cinder was to keeping her operations running as smoothly as possible.

"Welcome back" Cinder greeted as she glanced up from her computer. "How did things go?"

"Pretty well, all things considered" Emerald said as she took a seat and sat her feet up onto Cinder's desk. "I wasn't able to take out any of the Huntresses, but I still did some damage".

"That's fine" Cinder replied as she shut her laptop. "That still doesn't change the plan. Our contacts in Atlas will be arriving with the shipment tomorrow, and then we'll have enough firepower to burn the whole city to the ground. All we need now is an opportunity to take them all out at once, and Vale is as good as ours".

"Really now?" Emerald asked as she scrolled through her phone. "I think I might have just what you're looking for…have you ever heard of a movie called 'Dark Lyte'?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but I hope it was worth it! Coming up next is Cinders gang: The Embers! If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know in a review!
> 
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	24. Chapter 24

The early morning sun rose over the glittering, white marinas of Vale's upper east side as tourists enjoyed the lovely weather. They drank sodas, rode yachts and ate ice cream, completely oblivious to what was going on at the innocent-looking warehouse that sat on the side of the docks.

Inside, dozens of workers wearing black suits with orange highlights were bringing in dozens of wooden crates, covering each and every inch of the shelves that lined the high walls. One of those workers was an unusually tall man with short, black hair, a matching beard and wearing a black silk vest, black dress pants, black gloves, a crisp white undershirt, and an orange tie. He was hauling a wooden crate that looked to weigh at least three times as much as he did across the warehouse floor and was clearly having a lot of trouble with it.

"Come on, Junior, that's not how you do it" a bored, grey haired man in black and grey clothes commented as he leaned against a wall and flipped through his cell phone. "Lift with your legs, not your back".

"Easy thing to say for the guy with robotic legs" Junior quipped back. "Maybe you should be the one doing all this, Mercury…"

"Well, you know I'd love to, but I'm afraid my hands are tied" Mercury replied before pointing down towards his black boots with ammunition belts wrapped around the sides. "You see, these things are stronger than any normal person's legs, and would probably make lifting things ten times easier - which, of course, makes me the more valuable employee and you can't waste your most valuable employees stuff like manual labor, now can you?"

"Of-fucking-course…" Junior grumbled as he finally slammed the crate down onto the floor in front of him. "Okay, that's the last of it! Enough guns and Dust to burn this city to the ground, courtesy of our 'benefactors' in Atlas".

Cinder emerged from the shadows with her assistant, Emerald, and looked over all the boxes intently.

"I trust that all of this arrived… _discreetly"_ Cinder asked concernedly, eliciting a loud laugh from her subordinate.

"Ha! Trust me, if those thundercunts knew that we had this kind of hardware, they'd already be here" Junior assured her. "Besides, you should know by now that discretion is my specialty".

"Excellent work, Mr. Xiong" Cinder complimented as she picked up a crowbar off a nearby table and presented it to Emerald. "Care to do the honors?"

"It would be my pleasure" Emerald smiled back before taking the crowbar and prying the top off the crate.

Inside the box lay a rainbow of glittering weapons, made out of every dust type imaginable. There was so much there that the gangsters had trouble choosing what to grab first, but eventually it was Junior that made the first move.

"High explosive rounds…" the giant of a man said as he picked up a metal tube with bright, red light glowing from under its lid. "Just what my Batzooka needed!"

"Yeah, I'm sure that will help you be real discrete" Mercury said sarcastically before examining a pair of white boots. "Eh, not really my style, but they should help me keep up with that hyperactive redhead of theirs".

"I'll be sure to have them painted black as soon as I can" Cinder told him before reaching into the box and pulling out two orange silk gloves. She then quickly slipped them on and snapped her fingers, causing a powerful flame to bloom out of her right hand and glow brightly in her eyes. "Very nice… I wonder if these can really cause explosions like I heard they could…"

"Well, here's probably not the best place to test that out" Junior said, gesturing around him. "That is, unless you _want_ to make the harbor a mile wider".

"Perhaps another time…" Cinder said deviously before allowing the flames to die back down. "What about you, Emerald? What would you like?"

"Well, as much fun as leveling city blocks sounds, I think I'll go for something a little more… subtle" Emerald replied as she scanned through the box. Eventually, she came across a pair of green wristbands and slipped them over her wrists.

Closing her right hand, Emerald's right wristband suddenly detached into five green knives, which hovered around the dark-skinned girl's hand until she released her fist and the knives neatly snapped back into place.

"That'll do" Emerald stated plainly as she twisted her arm in front of her face.

"Why settle?" Junior asked, slapping the box. "There's plenty more where that came from, and we're not even done with this box!"

"Unfortunately, I doubt most of it will see much use" Emerald pointed out. "Assuming that things go as planned, anyways".

"Yes, but you can never be too prepared" Cinder countered. "You know what they say; hope for the best, plan for the worst".

"Speaking of our 'brilliant' plan, are we sure The Saints are even going to show up at the theater on Friday?" questioned Mercury.

"Well, it's not like it's hard to figure these morons out" Emerald explained. "The blonde one has been talking about dragging her friends to 'see this monstrosity' for themselves on her blog for a while now, and my informants tell me that the theater in the eastern commercial district is the only one they ever go to. They'll be there".

"Along with hundreds of other people, since it's opening night and all" Junior added.

"Oh well, you know what they say about omelettes and breaking skulls" Cinder said dismissively. She then snapped her fingers again and brought a flame up to her face. "First, our men will break in and search the theaters to ensure that the targets are actually there. Once they're found, our men will open fire and either kill them, or force The Saints to flee outside…"

"... where we'll be waiting!" Mercury finished for her. "Finally! Why can't all our assassination targets just come to us?"

"Underworld problems, much?" Emerald teased.

Mercury glared back at Emerald indignantly but Cinder just smiled before continuing.

"Once The Saints are dead - or, if by some miracle they escape - we will order the rest of our subordinates into The Saints' territory and assume control of their operations" she declared as she snuffed out the fire in her hand. "By the end of the week, we will finally be in control of all criminal activities in Vale - and still have time leftover for Sunday brunch".

"Awesome. Maybe we'll even get a commemorative plaque once we're done" Mercury said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, this is serious, asshole" Junior snapped at his comrade, but Mercury seemed unphased.

"Well, last I checked it was Tuesday, so I don't have to be serious until Friday" he chimed back. "Feel free to have fun with your new toys until then, though! Just try not to shoot your eye out!"

* * *

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" Ruby whispered excitedly to herself as she walked through the front of the theater with four bags of popcorn in her hands - two caramel and two chocolate coated. "Dark Lyte's finally here! I'm so excited!"

"Calm down, Ruby" Weiss whispered back with a diet soda in her hand as she and her boss both took their seats in front row. "It's just another schlock action-melodrama for teenagers to gush over and ruin their chances of ever having a good relationship".

"Melodrama?" Ruby asked back, confused. "But I thought it was a comedy!"

Weiss lightly slapped herself in the face and let out an annoyed groan.

"I know I am going to regret asking this, but what in the world made you think that?" Weiss inquired painfully.

Didn't you see the trailers?" Ruby asked incredulously. "Dark Lyte was ripping people's heads off left and right! How is that not comedy gold?!"

"I think your definition of 'comedy' might be different from most people's, Ruby" Blake interjected as she took a seat beside Weiss with a box of Gummy Ursas.

"That doesn't mean it's not going to be a laugh riot, though!" Yang laughed as she plopped down next to Blake, a massive cola in her lap. "Dark Lyte might be the biggest 'Mary Sue' I've seen in years! I can't wait to riff this movie a new one!"

"Shh!" Ruby quietly shooshed. "It's starting!"

The lights in the room then dimmed even more and the projector began to hum somewhere behind them. A few seconds later and the blond, blue-eyed figure of Juane Arc wearing a white cape appeared onscreen.

"They say that some people are born great", Juane's narration began, "some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. Unfortunately for me, I had all three…"

Meanwhile, in the back of the theater, the doors slowly crept open and several armed men slipped into the room. They were dressed in Ember-orange bullet-proof vests and ballistic helmets, they were armed with heavy assault weaponry, and it was clear that they weren't there for the show. One by one they entered and began sweeping through the rows, eliciting quiet gasps of terror as they hunted their prey.

"Hey, pipe down back there!" Yang called back without looking behind her. "Some of us are trying to watch a movie here!"

One particularly frightened shout of a man running from the theater did manage to catch Blake's attention, however, and she glanced back to see the hit squad moving through the theater.

"Uh, Ruby-" the Faunus whispered to her friend, only to be interrupted.

"Not now, Blake!" Ruby whispered back. "I think his girlfriend is about to get her guts pulled out her throat!"

Two rows behind them, Blake saw a woman try to make a break for the exit only to get knocked out by the butt of an assault rifle.

"Ruby, this is kind of important-" Blake began only for loud squishing noises from the the screen to interrupt her.

"Oooh, now that's a lot of blood!" Ruby cooed in amazement.

"Of course the girlfriend gets killed in the first five minutes" Weiss groaned next to her. "I could probably follow this plot blindfolded, it's so predictable!"

"Uh, guys, maybe we should look away from the movie for a few seconds" Blake hurriedly suggested.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Yang. "This thing is like a train wreck! It's so awful, but so mesmerizing at the same time!"

"There they are!" one of the gunmen shouted as he approached the group, taking aim towards Ruby's skull. The young crime lord didn't seem to react that much to this, though, and instead just pulled a pistol out of one of her popcorn bags and promptly shot him in the mouth. He hit the ground a second later and his blood began coating the already heavily stained floors of the theater.

"Jeeze, people in movie theaters can be so rude sometimes... " Ruby mumbled as she stuffed her face with another handful of caramel corn.

"I know, right?" agreed Yang.

The heads of the other Embers swiveled towards the source of the gunshot as soon as it was fired and began spraying the front rows of the theater in a hail of bullets. Blake quickly ducked down in front of her seat to try and take cover, but her friends didn't seem to react at all.

"Wow… the effects are surprisingly good" Yang marveled as she stared up at the gunfight occurring onscreen. "It almost feels like I'm really there!"

"Yeah, I didn't know this thing was in 3D" Ruby added, bullets whizzing mere inches from her face.

Weiss then went to take a sip of her diet soda, only for it's paper casing to suddenly shatter as a bullet tore through it's fragile frame and sent the drink flying everywhere.

"What the shit!?" Weiss shouted as she tried to protect her dress. "Those motherfuckers! I am so suing the moviemakers over this…"

"That wasn't the movie, guys!" Blake shouted back as she returned fire behind her seat. "We're being attacked!"

"Jeeze, right when we were getting to the good part…" Ruby groaned as she grabbed a second gun from another popcorn bag. "Alright, playtime's started!"

Weiss and Yang both followed suit, unholstering their guns and began unloading on the orange clad men that were slowly advancing down the theater towards them. By now there were about a dozen of them in the room, each surrounded dead and dying civilians as the rest fled the theater in panic.

"Looks like they want to play rough" Yang called out as she shrugged off a shot to the chest. "Just the way I like it! What do you say we return the favor, Rubes?"

"Mmm… hold on a sec…" Ruby replied through a mouthful of Gummy Ursa's she pilfered from a woman's corpse before downing it with small soda. "Okay, ready when you are!"

The fiery blonde then stepped onto the seat in front of her and used it to launch herself forward, colliding with a man holding a shotgun and tackling him to the floor. He tried to throw Yang off of him, but a few solid punches to the face were enough to dissuade him from trying - as well as from breathing.

She then ripped the shotgun from his hands and stood back up, taking aim at the nearest Ember hitman and blowing a hole straight through his helmet. Another hitman next to him tried to to fire back but Ruby promptly put several large holes in his chest that stopped him from ever taking the chance.

"Good shot, Yang!" Ruby said through a mouthful of chocolate covered peanuts she had picked up off the floor. "Keep up the good work!"

Meanwhile, Weiss was trying to block the bullets racing towards her by summoning a glyph, but found that she was drawing so much fire that she had to use both hands to keep it from collapsing entirely.

"Blake!" Weiss shouted over her shoulder. "You're with me!"

The black haired Faunus girl quickly rolled out from her cover and stood up beside Weiss, who began to slowly move up the aisle in front of them. Blake stayed close behind her, firing her silenced pistol through the back of the glyph as they walked and taking out any Ember that got too close.

"Why does it feel like we never get any real days off?" Weiss asked sarcastically as Blake emptied her clip.

"Probably because our boss has never really 'worked'" Blake replied, glancing over towards Ruby. The young redhead was still fighting off the gangsters trying to kill her, but was only partially paying attention to them as she sat back down with another bucket of popcorn and continued watching the movie on screen.

One Ember tried to take advantage of this and rushed Ruby, but a blast from Yang's shotgun took him down right before he reached her. As a consequence, she also ended up blowing the the bucket of popcorn right out of Ruby's lap.

"Hey!" Ruby whined as the man fell down onto her feet. "You popped my popcorn!"

"Sorry" Yang apologized. "'Still better than a popped skull, right?"

"But what's even the point of having a skull if I can't stuff it full of buttery goodness!?" Ruby exclaimed.

"You know that not really butter, right?" Blake asked in between murders.

"Wait, it's not?" Ruby queried back. "Then what is it made out of? Butts?"

Blake would have answered her, but she stopped herself short when she saw a large man in heavy armour and carrying a minigun step into the room from the door in front of her. He quickly spotted Weiss and opened fire on her, straining her semblance to the limit as she tried to hold back the torrent of bullets.

"Augh…" Weiss groaned under the strain of the bullets. "Could use a little help here!"

"I'm on it!" Blake assured her - or, rather, her shadow clone did before it threw itself into Weiss's glyph and was accelerated towards the machine-gunner in front of her. The man had quick reflexes, though, and managed to land a swipe on the clone right before it landed, causing it to break up into Dust. That Dust kept its momentum, however, and ended up colliding right with his eyes and blinding him.

He quickly tried to rub the Dust away, but by then it was already too late. Weiss had made it to the end of the aisle, lowered her glyph, and fired four point blank shots into the four corners of his bulletproof vest, which fell off a second later. She then stepped aside to allow Blake to step forward, who reached into her back pocket, took out a pocket knife, and stabbed them man straight through the sternum.

It seemed like this was the last of the Embers for a few moments, but that changed when the emergency exits back at the front of the theater suddenly burst open and five more rushed into the room.

"There they are!" their leader, a woman in with an assault rifle shouted. "Open fire!"

They all quickly picked their targets and pulled their triggers, forcing The Saints to take cover at the other end of the theater - except for Ruby, who managed to use her Semblance to run up right beside the lead Ember without her even noticing.

"Shame on you! You're not supposed to shout 'fire' in a movie theater!" Ruby scolded before shooting the woman through the skull. "Someone might get hurt!"

The man on the lead Ember's left tried to react to this but Ruby quickly put him down with a few well-placed shots to the knees before finishing him off in the stomach. The rest of the Embers then quickly began to panic, allowing the rest of The Saints to start picking them off one by one. While this was happening, the man Blake had stabbed through the chest crawled painfully into the theater lobby, blood pouring from his lips.

"The Saints…" he mumbled into his cell phone. "They're here… and they slaughtered us… you better get ready… kill ANY fucker who even looks like a Saint who comes out of here, you here me!?"

"Don't worry, we will" Cinder replied from her car before calling her lieutenants. "Places, everyone: it's time for the curtain to rise…"

* * *

Two hours later and The Embers still stood there outside the theater, guns trained halfheartedly at the building as boredom slowly overtook them. Cinder kept completely focused on the exit in front of her however, ready to ignite any unlucky soul that dared pass in front of her. That focus was suddenly broken by the sound of her cell phone wringing, which she promptly answered.

"Uh, I don't think they're here anymore" Mercury's voice said through the speaker.

"Are you sure?" Cinder replied. "We have all the exits covered and there are no other ways out… perhaps they've barricaded themselves inside and are preparing for a siege?"

"Nope, I don't think so" Mercury answered back. "I've got some guys in the lobby right now, and none of them see anything. No barricades, no movement, no nothing. If they are trying to wait us out, they sure haven't done a good job of it".

"But that's impossible… we made sure to check every civilian who escaped the theater alive" Cinder mumbled to herself. "Tell them to check again!"

"Aww, come on, Cindy!" Mercury whinned. "If I wanted to sit around waiting for women who'd never show up, I'd ask Emerald out on a date again!"

Cinder was about to give him a firm 'no' when suddenly she was interrupted by her phone ringing again, informing her that she had another call.

"Hold on a second…" she ordered before switching to her new caller. "Yes, Ms. Mayor?"

"Damn it, Fall, you said that this would be quick!" a gruff sounding woman barked on the other end. "I've kept the cops from showing up like you asked, but it's been over two hours now and people are starting to get suspicious! The press is practically breathing down my neck here!"

"My apologies, Mayor. We will be leaving shortly" Cinder replied respectfully. "I will be sure to compensate you a little bit more when I transfer the funds to your account".

"Heh, that's more like it!" the mayor replied. "Catch you later, Fall!"

Cinder then tapped her phone and switched back to her call with Mercury.

"Change of plans" she announced, her tone instantly shifting to stern. "We cannot afford to keep looking for them, so we will be launching our attack now. Contact your men and begin assaulting the neighborhoods that I assigned you, and tell Junior and Emerald to do the same".

"Finally…" Mercury sighed on the other side. "I hope this time things actually get interesting".

"Well, for our sake, you'd better hope they don't" Cinder replied before hanging up and turning towards her men. "Let's go before we waste what's left of our surprise…"

The Embers then quickly piled into their sleek, black cars and sped off into the distance, leaving the ruined theater smoldering in their wake. A few seconds after they left. Ruby and her friends finally exited out the front doors.

"Wow, that was great!" Ruby exclaimed as she skipped over a dead Faunus woman. "I mean, yeah, it sucks that we got interrupted and that we had to watch it with all those stinky bodies everywhere, but I'd still call that the the feel-good comedy of the summer!"

"Ha! You're telling me!" Yang laughed in agreement. "I'm going to be quoting that asshole's lines all year! 'Revenge is dish best served with blood!' Priceless! What did you think of it, Blake?"

"Eh, the book was better" Blake shrugged back.

"Uh, I'd hate to spoil the mood, but doesn't it bother that we just survived an assassination attempt by what looked to be Cinder's men?" inquired Weiss. "For all we know, The Embers are attacking our operations as we speak!"

"Pff, relax, Weiss!" Ruby replied dismissively. "We already own over half the city! What's the worst that a little gang like them can do anyway?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: As always, remember to leave a comment!
> 
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	25. Chapter 25

"Oh… that's the worst".

After leaving the movie theater, Ruby and her friends all piled into Weiss's car and started to head home - only to find the road back to Beacon through the eastern commercial district had become a warzone, with fires and gunfights raging everywhere as The Embers tried their best to push out The Saints.

"Shit!" Yang swore as she watched the building next to her blew up. "Was that the Crow Bar? Damn it, they always served the best beer!"

"Yeah, now it's going to get all warm!" Ruby lamented. "And _no one_ likes their drinks warm! Unless it's hot coco, I guess".

"Or tea" Weiss interjected.

"T?" Ruby asked in confusion. "Why would anyone want to drink a letter?"

Weiss's left eyebrow twitched furiously for a few moments before she suddenly turned back and shouted "Yang!"

"On it!" Yang replied as she reached over to the seat in front of her and slapped Weiss in the face so she wouldn't have to take her hands off the wheel.

"Thanks, I needed that" Weiss sighed, calming down.

"Uh, guys" Blake interrupted as she looked up from her phone. "I'm getting about a thousand messages per minute that are all some variation of cries for help and last wills. I guess Cinder's gang isn't as 'little' as we thought".

Before Weiss could reply, a dead Saint suddenly fell onto the roof of the car and caused Weiss to swerve, courtesy of a man in black and orange clothing wielding a shotgun.

"Augh, this isn't good" Weiss groaned, taking out her pistol and shooting the man responsible as she drove past. "We're going to be wiped out if this keeps up! Do you know where we're being hit the hardest?"

"Well, it looks like most of these are coming from Cardin's old chop shop, that gate on the south side of town we smuggle Ursa weed through, and the western residential district, so I'm going to guess there" Blake replied. "Though, I wouldn't be surprised if all of that is a distraction to lure us away from our headquarters at Beacon to make it easier to take down".

"Of course she'd try something like that…" Weiss grumbled to herself. "Alright, if we're going to have any hope of surviving this with the gang in one piece, we're going to have to split up. Yang, you handle the chop shop while Blake handles the gate, Ruby deals with the residential district, and I hold down Beacon. Any questions?"

"Yeah!" Yang replied. "How come I'm the one who has to drive to the other side of fucking town?!"

"So I can be as far away from your dumb ass as possible!" Weiss shouted in response. "Any, less idiotic questions?"

"Yeah, how are we gonna get there if you're the one with the car?" Ruby inquired.

"Seriously?" Weiss asked back. "You're a gangster, Ruby! Just steal a ride!"

"Oh, that's right!" Ruby said as her face lit up. "I'm on it!"

The young crime lord then jumped out of the passenger seat of the car and dashed over to the ruins of a nearby toy store, where she found a frilly, pink tricycle designed for girls half her age sitting among the rubble.

"Ooooh, love the colors!" Ruby said as she dusted off her ill-gotten gains. "Catch you later, girls!"

She then promptly hopped onto the tricycle, activated her semblance, and sped off into the distance, leaving her stunned friends behind.

"Well… I can say for certain that they won't see _that_ coming" Blake said before getting out herself.

Spotting an Ember driving towards her on a motorcycle, Blake summoned a shadow clone and used it to jump kick the man off his bike, which sent the bike skidding violently in her direction. Blake didn't miss a beat, however, and hopped onto it as soon as it reached her and sped off in the opposite direction Ruby had.

Yang jumped out of Weiss's car a few seconds later and sighted a mostly-intact white pickup truck crashed into a lamp post on the side of the road, with its deceased driver still inside.

"Hey there, pal, mind giving a stranded young lady a ride?" Yang asked the bearded corpse as she showed off one of her legs. Naturally, he didn't reply. "My, such a gentleman!"

She then pushed the dead man into the passenger seat and shifted the car into reverse.

"I hope the Embers like breakfast, because they are about to be toast!" Yang called out as she backed up.

"The only person you're going to kill with puns like that is me, you know!" Weiss shouted from her car as Yang roared passed her. Yang just stuck her hand out her window and flipped Weiss off in reply, causing the latter to roll her eyes before flooring her accelerator and speeding off towards Beacon.

* * *

"Come on, keep shooting!" a Saint wearing a white hoodie directed her comrades as they fired out from behind a ring of circled semi trucks. They were all parked in front of the gate in the southern agricultural district where Ruby had spray painted an enormous rose on one of the old city gates, and the Saints hiding behind them were slowly being picked off one by one by the Embers closing in around them.

"Just hold out a little while longer!" the woman in the white hoodie shouted over the gunfire. "We lose this gate and we lose or fattest cash cow!"

Not everyone behind the trucks were in such a state of panic, however. One bunny-eared drug dealer in particular didn't seem to care at all, and just leaned casually on the truck next to the white-hooded Saint as she smoked a large joint.

"Hey, man, no need to shout" Velvet said as she let out a large puff of smoke. "You really need to learn to relax, go with the flow! You know what I mean?"

"Relax?" the Saint asked back incredulously. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but these people are trying to kill us!"

"Yeah, but that's no reason to spit the dummy" Velvet argued back. "Stress can be a real killer to, you know".

"Augh!" the hooded woman groaned. "Will you just shut up and-"

The woman was interrupted by a bullet to the shoulder, which sent blood splattering everywhere and staining her good hoodie.

"Urk!" she grunted as she grasped her right arm. "Fuck, that hurts! Give me that!"

Velvet didn't bother resisting as the Saint swiped the joint out of her hands and took a nice, long smoke from it.

"Ahh…" the Saint sighed as the pain melted from her face. "So good…"

"See, isn't that better?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah, it feels like a weight has been taken off my shoulders" the woman said before a red bat suddenly collided with the back of her head, hitting her skull so hard that it was sent flying away from her body over the nearby drug gate.

"Yeah, something like that" Junior Xiong said as he put his Batzooka back over his shoulder and he and his men entered the circle of trucks. The rest of the remaining Saints tried to gun him down, but his followers made short work of them, leaving behind only the brunette Faunus girl in front of them untouched.

"You Velvet?" Junior asked as he walked up to the girl in question.

"That's me, bruv" Velvet replied casually as she picked up her dead friend's blunt and took another puff from it. "What can I do you for?"

"I think you know what we want" Junior said, placing his bat onto the ground and leaning into it. "From now on, you and your dealers answer to me, got it?"

"Well, that depends on whether or not you have any sugar to sweeten the deal there, hun" Velvet replied between puffs. "What's in it for me?"

"Well, you get to live" Junior said as he picked up his bat, switched it to bazooka mode, and pointed it directly in the Faunus woman's face. "How's that for a start?"

"Hmmm, sounds nice, but live's hardly worth living without easy access to my little lovelies here" Velvet mused as she twirled her blunt. "I'm afraid you're going to have to do a bit better than that".

"Heh…" Junior laughed, admiring the girl's bravado. "You do realize who you're dealing with here, right?"

"Of course I do, love" Velvet replied as she set aside her joint and reached for the small, brown box she kept by her side. "I think the real question here is… do you?"

The two stared each other down for a few moments but, before either of them could finally blink, their attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of an incoming motorcycle. Turning, they both saw Blake riding towards them through a gap between the trucks.

"Too easy…" Junior said to himself with a smirk as he took am and effortlessly hit Blake with a high-explosive rocket. The motorcycle went up in flames in an instant, sending shrapnel flying everywhere as it skid to a flaming halt. Junior expected there to be a body lying among the wreckage but, strangely, there wasn't.

"You were right" Blake said as she walked up behind Junior, shooting his three henchmen before putting her gun to the back of Junior's head. "That was too easy".

Junior let out a long, exasperated sigh before dropping his Batzooka to the ground, putting his hands up, and slowly turning around.

"You okay, Velvet?" Blake asked her friend while keeping a close eye on Junior.

"Hold on a sec" Velvet replied before taking another puff from her joint. "Aaah… now, I'm okay".

"Alright, you got me" Junior admitted with his hands still up. "So what happens now?"

"Now, we take you hostage", Blake replied, "and use you as leverage to get Cinder to call off her attack".

Junior couldn't help but laugh when he heard that.

"Sorry, lady, but I don't think she's going to call this thing off anytime soon" Junior explained.

"Well, I guess that's your prob-" Blake began to say before being interrupted by Junior's hands wrapping around hers. She quickly tried to fire off a shot, but by then he managed to push the gun back enough that all it did was shoot harmlessly into the air above them.

Blake kept trying to readjust her aim, but Junior was far stronger than anyone she had ever met and was easily able to overpower her.

"Augh!" Blake cried out as the pain became too much for her and she dropped her handgun to the ground. Junior refused to let go, however, and kept squeezing and bending her wrists until it felt like they were going to break.

"And, you know what?" Junior asked menacingly as she forced Blake down onto her knees. "I don't plan on backing off anytime soon, either!"

"Hey, baby bear" Velvet's interrupted as she prepared to flick away her joint. "Catch!"

Junior turned his face just in time for the makeshift cigar to hit him in the eye, causing him to flinch and drop Blake back onto the ground. Blake quickly took the opportunity to scramble for her gun and put in some distance between her and Junior.

"Thanks for that" Blake told Velvet as she checked to make sure her pistol was still in working order.

"No problem, bra, but I wouldn't be relaxing just yet" Velvet replied as she pointed towards the twelve Embers rushing past the trucks to check on Junior.

"Are you alright sir?" one of them asked as Junior wiped the ashes from his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he replied, picking up his Batzooka back up. "Just ran into a stray is all".

"Good luck there, love" Velvet said as she walked off back towards the gate. "Free Ursa weed for a year if you win!"

Realizing that there was no way she could escape, Blake instead dashed forward and ducked right under Junior's weapon, which caused the shell he fired to pass harmlessly over her head. Once Blake reached Junior, the other Embers were quick to try and rush her, but Blake was ready for them. The first man to reach her she promptly knocked to the ground with a solid punch, and took the opportunity to steal a grenade from his shirt pocket while he was on the ground.

Junior quickly switched his gun back into bat form swung it down towards Blake, but she merely sidestepped it and shot down the next Emer that managed to reach her through the leg. That man promptly fell to the ground and dropped his gun, which bounced off the pavement and shot the Ember Blake had just punched through the skull.

Junior then tried to raise his bat back up for another blow, but Blake saw this coming as well, and stepped onto the weapon so she would be flung into the air as he raised the bat with all his strength. The first thing she did in the air was use her pistol to shoot down two more Embers before splitting into a dozen shadow clones that quickly surrounded the remaining gangsters as they hit the ground. The Embers all immediately opened fire on the Blake closest to them, but Junior was smart enough to realize that the real one was probably behind them, and used his Batzooka to fire upon that one instead.

Blake was able to jump out of the way of the rocket in time, but the explosion knocked her off her feet and broke her concentration enough to cause all the remaining shadow clones to disappear.

Scrambling to her feet, Blake ducked behind the back of a nearby semi and took cover there just as even more Embers arrived on the other side of the truck and opened fire on her as well.

"Well, this isn't good…" Blake mused to herself as bullets kept ricocheting off the side of the truck,. "There's no way I'm escaping through that. Maybe I can climb up and- hm? What's that smell?"

Opening the back of the semi, Blake found a large, smoking pile of Ursa weed inside, likely set aflame by a stray yellow Dust round. The scent was so strong that she could barely stand, and she was someone who was mostly used to the smell. This made her start to wonder how what would happen if there was even more of it in the air…

"Well, she did say I'd get free weed if I won…" Blake said as she covered her mouth and tossed in her stolen grenade.

She ducked down and the bomb exploded a few seconds later, tearing the back of the semi apart and sending burning chunks of Ursa weed flying everywhere. Soon, the entire area was so dense with smoke that none of the Embers could see more than two feet in front of them - except for Junior, who was so tall he rose above the smoke.

"W-what's going on!?" an Ember cried out as he struggled to stay on his feet. "Why is everything spinning? And… oh god, the colors!"

"I… I think I see her!" another one shouted. "Over there!"

The figure he fired at through the smoke turned out to be one of his own friends, but he was to high and blind to tell. His other friends noticed the gunshots, however, and immediately assumed that he was Blake and started firing on him instead. The real Blake, meanwhile took careful potshots from outside the smoke to finish off whatever gangsters weren't busy killing each other.

"Augh, you morons!" Junior groaned as he watched the chaos unfold. "Can't I take you guys anywhere without you screwing everything up!?"

Junior was suddenly interrupted by a few shots striking his aura from somewhere within the smoke, which sent him even deeper into his rage. He quickly switched his gun back into bazooka mode, but when he tried to fire back all that did was blow the smoke back right up into his face.

"That's it!" he shouted, exasperated. "I'm out of here! Cinder doesn't pay me enough for this shit!"

Making his way through the smoke, Junior exited the circle of semis and made for his car, slamming the door violently behind him before speeding away from gate.

"Mmm, smells like victory…" Velvet told Blake as she walked up to the clearing smoke. "And my apartment. Good job out there, Black".

"Thanks" Blake replied, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I never knew smoking weed could be so useful".

"Girl, you don't know the half of it".

* * *

"Come on, move those boxes!" a female Saint shouted to her friends inside an old factory as a hail of gunfire roared outside. "We just finished putting all this shit back together, and I do not want to have to do it again!"

About half of the Saints in the factory were doing as they were told, while the other half desperately fired out the windows towards the Embers outside, who had circled their cars around the building.

"Wow, don't you think this is kinda ironic?" a Faunus man said to the Saint beside him as he fired outside. "I mean, just over a week ago we were the ones out there shooting in! Pretty funny, huh?"

"Yeah, hilarious!" came the curt reply.

"It makes me wonder what ironic thing is going to happen next week…" the first Saint mused to himself. "Maybe we'll be the ones arresting the cops… or our guns will be using us to kill other guns!"

"And maybe you'll be fucking useful for once" his friend growled back as she broke the arm of an Ember who tried reaching through the window. "Now _that_ would be a change of pace".

Meanwhile, down the street, Yang was still riding towards the scene in her stolen truck while she siped on the dead owner's coffee.

"Mm, black!" Yang said happily. "Right to the point! You, sir, have good taste! Er, _had_ good taste, that is".

Yang was interrupted by the sudden sound of bullets bouncing off her engine block, as the Embers finally spotted her.

"Whoops! Looks like this is my stop!" Yang said as she popped open her door. "Catch you later, dude!" Have a nice trip!"

Using the momentum of the truck as a boost, Yang launched herself out of the vehicle and towards the nearest Ember, who was wielding a shotgun.

"Lights on!" Yang shouted, punching the sunglasses off the man's face before stealing his gun and shooting him with it. "Lights out!"

The other Embers kept firing at her, however, and while Yang's first instinct was to try and charge at them, a few high-powered bullets to the side followed by some sharp pain put an end to that idea. So, instead she hopped down behind the car and examined her wound - none of the bullets punctured her skin, but they did hit hard enough to draw blood, and she was now bleeding all over her clothes.

"Whoo! These guns of yours sure do pack a punch!" Yang said as she clutched her side. "But… so do I!"

She then stood back up and punched out an Ember who had been sneaking up on her car before shooting another nearby. The rest of the Embers quickly responded in kind, however, and forced her back into hiding.

"Shit!" Yang swore to herself. "Maybe being out in the open isn't the greatest idea for once…"

Glancing out over the trunk of the car, Yang eyed the gunfire coming from within the factory carefully.

"Well, I guess friendly fire is _slightly_ better than unfriendly…" Yang said before shooting the car's gearshift with her shotgun and pushing the vehicle forward. Bullets kept ricocheting off the car as she pushed it, but she refused to stop until it finally collided with the outer wall of the factory. Once there, she slipped into one of the windows as fast as she could and slumped to the ground, where the bullets couldn't hit her.

"Holy shit!" a female Saint exclaimed. "Yang, are you okay?"

"Don't worry about it!" Yang replied, still clutching her side in pain. "Though… I will admit that I'm more used to making bad guys bleed instead of the other way around".

"Yeah, it's pretty ironic, huh?" the Faunus man from earlier asked before being knocked unconscious by his friend.

"So, you got a plan, boss?" another Saint asked as she resumed firing out the windows.

"Well, it _used_ to be that I'd just bust in here and save the day, like I usually do" Yang replied. "But… how about you keep doing what you're doing while I go patch myself up?"

"Uh… I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're kind of on our last legs here" a Saint pointed out.

"Relax, I had the front door reinforced!" Yang insisted as she forced herself to her feet. "They aren't getting in here!"

Then, as if on cue, the front gate burst open and sent the boxes used to barricade it flying everywhere.

"You were saying, Goldilocks?" Mercury asked in the doorway with his kicking foot still raised.

"Uh… guess I spoke too soon" Yang replied.

"So…" Mercury said as the Saints all raised their guns towards the entrance. "I'm guessing this would be the part where I ask you to surrender, and you refuse out of bravado, loyalty to your crew, or some other bullshit that I'll have to listen to while you bleed to death all over my new boots".

"Uh, actually, how about we just throw down our flags and call it a day?" Yang said as she raised her hands.

"Wow, seriously?" Mercury asked as the other Saints followed Yang's lead. "I guess you're not as dumb as we thought".

He then quickly snapped his fingers and pointed towards the ground.

"Face on the floor, hands behind your back" Mercury ordered. "And please, please don't do anything stupid".

"Oh, I wouldn't even think of doing that…" Yang said as she lay down on the ground.

Two Embers then began cautiously approaching her, guns both at the ready as they reached down to start tying her arms together. But, right when she knew they were over her, Yang bit down on her tongue as hard as she could and activated her semblance, causing her long blonde hair to suddenly catch fire and scorch the two men who had tried to restrain her.

Then then kicked out her legs and began to spin, sending her fire out in all directions and burning anyone who was too close - besides the Saints who were still face-down on the floor.

"Of course…" Mercury said boredly as his aura protected him from harm. "Guess I have to deal with this myself…"

He then sprinted his way towards Yang and launched himself into a flying kick, which the blonde met with a powerful punch that halted him in the air. The hidden guns within Mercury's boots fired a moment later, the bullets grazing Yang's stomach and drawing even more blood.

"Shit!" Yang cursed before moving in for another punch.

"You know, I'm actually kind of glad you decided to fight back" Mercury said as he easily dodged Yang's blows. "I mean, yeah, Cinder will chew me out for losing the chance to 'interrogate' you, but I'd much rather be yelled at for five minutes than have to listen to your screams all month".

"Aw, come on!" Yang said as she listened to the other gangsters scramble for their guns around her. "That wouldn't be so bad! After all, something tells me you don't get to hear girls moan that often~"

Mercury couldn't help but roll his eyes at that joke, giving Yang the opportunity she'd been waiting for to swing her fist down with all her might. Mercury was still able to dodge it, but the force of the punch sent out a shockwave so powerful that it actually lifted him off his feet and launched Mercury back out the front gate. The other Saints, meanwhile, finished off the remaining Embers before turning all their guns on Mercury.

"Is this the part where you refuse to be defeated and run back right into our gunfire?" Yang asked sarcastically. "I sure hope so!"

"Uh… how about we call this one a draw?" Mercury asked before activating the white Dust in his boots and taking off towards his car. "Later!"

"Heh, an asshole who finally knows when to back off?" Yang asked as the other Saints fired on the fleeing car. "Now _that's_ ironic. Hehe- ow. Does anyone have any bandages?"

* * *

Back in the western residential district, the fighting was still very intense. Explosions and gunshots were happening everywhere as The Embers and The Saints battled it out on the streets, with The Embers only slightly holding the upper hand.

There, an orange-clad woman managed to corner one Saint by a park bench and knocked him to the ground before placing her gun right against his skull.

"Say 'goodnight', bitch!" she growled as she cocked her revolver.

The Saint expected things to end a moment later, but the final shot never came. Instead, a red blur suddenly came by and swept the Ember away, leaving the Saint alone and confused.

The red blur turned out to be none other than Ruby Rose, still riding her tricycle and now carrying the Ember tightly by her throat.

"Okay; nighty night!" Ruby said before slamming the woman's face down onto the pavement before taking out her pistol from her shirt and taking aim at anyone wearing orange.

"Daa-da-da-da-DAA-da, da-da-da-DAA-da, da-da-da-DAAA-da, da-da-da-daaaaaaa!" Ruby sang happily to herself gunned down anyone unfortunate enough to get in her way.

That was, until, she noticed a pile of adorable puppies sitting in the middle of the road, which caused her to panic and try to skid to a stop. She was moving far too fast, however, so she ended up rolling her tricycle, wrecking it and leaving her with several painful bruises.

"Ow…" Ruby groaned as she lay there on the ground. "That hurt… but at least I saved those poor pooches!"

When she looked in front of her, however, the puppies were nowhere to be seen.

"W-what?" Ruby gasped. "Where did they go?"

"Wow, I can't believe that worked" Emerald said as she walked up behind Ruby. "I thought for sure you'd plow right through them".

"Of course not!" Ruby replied, offended. "I run over _people_ in my rides all the time, but I'm no monster!"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to put that on your tombstone" Emerald replied sarcastically as she activated one of her knife wristbands.

She then stabbed them all downwards towards the young crime lord, only for all the blades to be blocked by a wheel from Ruby's destroyed tricycle.

"Sorry, but if I am going to die, it's going to involve a lot more explosions!" Ruby said as she held the tire in place in front of her.

"Oh, well, if you insist" Emerald said before snapping her fingers. Two grenades fell out of the sky a moment later and bounced on the ground right next to Ruby, sending her into a panic.

Ruby quickly activated her semblance and dashed off in a random direction, escaping their blast radiuses just in time.

"Phew!" Ruby sighed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "That was close!"

Ruby's short respite was suddenly cut off by another snapping of fingers, followed by even more grenades falling to her feet.

"Oh poo…" Ruby swore as she started running again.

This time she didn't have time to stop, as the bombs kept falling behind her and forcing her to run further and further to stay safe.

"Keep on running, Red" Emerald called out as she filed her nails from a nearby bench. "I'm sure I'll run out eventually!"

Ruby knew she couldn't keep this up forever, though, as she was already starting to pant heavily and slow down. But, then she realized as the glanced behind her that none of the grenades were leaving craters, which got her thinking.

"Hey, wait a minute…" thought Ruby. "Those bombs are like those puppies! Mean, other than how adorable and awesome they both are! Which means… there isn't anything really stopping em from doing _this!_ "

Ruby suddenly deviated from her path and launched herself towards Emerald, intending to tackle her. Instead, she just passed straight through the dark-skinned woman's body and ended up with a face-full of wooden bench.

"Oh, so you do have a working brain cell in that head of yours" Emerald's disembodied voice said nearby. "Too bad it won't be working for long…"

Ruby quickly sat up and tried to locate the source of the voice, but her efforts were cut short by a sudden shot to the shoulder. The gunfire then just kept coming, very loud but she couldn't see any muzzle flash or gun anywhere - at least, one that was being aimed at her, that is.

Unsure of what to do, Ruby began running once again, zigging and zagging to avoid shots as she slowly felt her energy drain from her body. She started to wonder what she could do to get out of this mess, when it finally hit her.

"Hey, wait a second… my brain!" Ruby said to herself. "That's it!"

She then ran over behind a nearby car that she was relatively sure was safe and took out her handgun again.

"Sorry little guy, but this is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you!" Ruby apologized before pistolwhipping herself in the face. "Ow…" Ruby groaned as stars started to fill her vision.

She then glanced out from behind the car and saw Emerald approaching with her knives at the ready, but she didn't look worried to see Ruby looking at her. So, Ruby just pretended not to see Emerald until she was right up next to her, at which point Ruby fired several rounds into the other girl's chest.

"What the-" Emerald gasped as she felt her shoulder start to bleed. "How is this even possible!?"

"Sorry, but the only magic tricks I like involve bunnies and hats, and you're no lagomorph!" Ruby replied as she reloaded her gun.

"Well then, maybe you'll like this trick…" Emerald said as she took out a smoke grenade and pulled the pin.

Realizing what was about to happen, Ruby tried to tackle Emerald before she got away, but by then it was already too late. The smoke was too thick for her to see anything, and Emerald was able to slip off unnoticed. By the time the smoke had cleared, Ruby was alone again in the middle of the street.

"Darn…" Ruby cursed as she kicked a stray can. "I always hated disappearing acts… I guess that means I can help my homies now at lea-"

Ruby was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a large explosion which, judging from the flames rising from the east, originated all the way at Beacon.

"Oh no! Weiss" Ruby gasped before activating her semblance once again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Weiss's car engine roared as she sped towards Beacon as fast as she could. Peering ahead, she saw that the last of Cinder's men were still just arriving in their cars in front of a ruined front gate. It didn't take them long to notice Weiss coming, through, at which point they began peppering her engine block with as much fire as they could muster.

"Shit… so much for surprising the surprise attack" Weiss lamented before ramming into one of the Embers and pinning him painfully to his own car. Weiss then stepped out of the car and raised both of her hands, using her right to summon a glyph to block incoming shots while her left gunned down any Ember within view. Then, as soon as she was done killing everyone on her left, she switched hands and took out everyone on her right until there was no one left standing in between her and the entrance to Beacon.

Inside, she found the bodies of dead Saints and Embers strewn about all over the place, but she didn't see or hear any fighting going on at all. Then, she arrived in the cafeteria, where the ceiling was caved in from what was probably a very large explosion and Cinder herself was holding a female Saint by the throat.

"I will ask you one last time…" Cinder whispered to the woman in a calm, yet somehow still terrifying voice. "Where are your leaders?"

"Put her down, Cinder!" Weiss called out as she entered the room. "It's me you're looking for!"

"Ah, Ms. Schnee. Long time no see." Cinder greeted as she tossed the Saint to the side. "I suppose The Saints' number four will do for now".

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm at least number three, and more than enough to take you on!" Weiss insisted pridefully.

"You always were such a petulant child" Cinder replied with a giggle. "It's about time someone finally gave you some… corporal punishment".

"I'd like to see you try!" Weiss shouted as she summoned another glyph and used it to accelerate her towards Cinder.

It looked like Weiss was coming in for a punch, so Cinder merely raised up her gloved hands and summoned some fire into them. Instead, Weiss simply tossed a grenade she'd been hiding into Cinder's scolding palms and leapt over her, leaving Cinder with a bomb that promptly exploded in her hands without the pin ever needing to be pulled.

When the dust cleared, however, she seemed to be completely fine.

"Clever…" Cinder complimented as she wiped the ashes from her dress. "I suppose I taught you a little too well, didn't I?"

Weiss almost responded but ultimately held her tongue, since she didn't want to bother playing Cinder's mind games. Instead, Weiss raised her pistol and opened fire, aiming right between the woman's eyes. Cinder didn't even try to run for cover, though, and just casually walked forward as she moved her head side to side to dodge the incoming bullets.

"Although, you always did skip shooting practice" Cinder said as she finally reached Weiss and grabbed her by the hand.

Weiss's reply came in the form of ball of spit colliding with Cinder's face, causing the crime lord flinch and start burning up.

"Hmmph!" Cinder grunted as she held out Weiss's wrist in front of her. "And it looks like you still need to learn some respect too!"

Cinder then summoned another fire in her left hand while her right held Weiss's arm in place, allowing her to deliver a painful slap to Weiss's exposed wrist.

"Augh!" Weiss cried out as she felt the skin on her arm burn.

"You know… it still isn't too late" Cinder whispered as she pulled Weiss closer. "The bridges haven't been burned yet… you can still come back to us if you really want".

"Like hell I will!" Weiss growled in reply.

"Well, if you insist" Cinder said as she began to burn Weiss's arm with her right hand.

Weiss, however, took this as an opportunity to headbutt Cinder, stunning the other woman just long enough for her to escape and pick her gun back up off the floor. Deciding that she had played with her fellet long enough, Cinder began summoning fireballs into her hands and tossing them towards Weiss, who had run as fast as she could to avoid the massive explosions that were trailing behind her with every step.

Weiss did her best to keep trying to shoot Cinder, but it didn't take her very long for her gun to run dry and leave her completely defenseless.

"Shit!" Weiss swore as she desperately searched through the rubble for another clip, but she quickly found herself interrupted by a hand clamping onto her throat.

"Weiss, you know there aren't enough bullets in the world to kill a woman like me" Cinder told her with a smile. "You, on the other hand, don't even merit one".

"Actually, I'd disagree" a voice suddenly chimed in.

Turning, Cinder saw Ruby standing above Smiley's shark tank, the glass of which was already full of holes and leaking quite heavily.

"I'd say she deserves oooooone more" Ruby right before shooting the glass one last time and flooding the cafeteria in salt water.

The wave of water was more than enough to swipe Cinder and Weiss off their feet, carrying them along in the current as Ruby rode through the waves atop her pet great white.

"Yeehaw!" Ruby shouted as she enjoyed the ride of her life.

"Ruby!" Weiss coughed as she swam over to her boss. "What the hell!?"

"Shh, don't think about it!" Ruby replied as she helped Weiss onto the shark. "Just enjoy!"

It didn't take that much longer for the water to completely dissipate, however, which left Ruby and Weiss sitting atop a beached great white while Cinder struggled to get to her feet.

"Why you little-" Cinder growled as she tried to summon more fire into her hands, only to find her gloves no longer working. "What? Damn… I suppose I will have to do this myself".

"Okay, you do that!" Ruby replied before snapping her fingers summoning a dozen waiting Saints into the room. "Buuuut as a leader, I think it's about time I delegated".

Cinder simply giggled in response.

"Well played, Ms. Rose" she complimented. "You win this round".

"Oh boy!" Ruby said excitedly. "What did I win?"

"One more day" Cinder replied before summoning a ring of orange glyphs around her and using it to blow a hole in the wall behind her. The Saints tried following behind her but found themselves quickly stopped by more explosive glyphs blocking their paths, allowing Cinder to escape outside with ease.

"Wait…" Ruby mumbled to herself as she watched all this happen. "She can explode!? Why didn't anyone tell me this!? How does she do it? Does she use her mind?! Can she blow people up from the inside?! IS SHE A GRENADE?! Does she hide explosives up her skirt?! I must know!"

"I'll tell you later, okay?" Weiss sighed as the other Saints worked to haul Smiley back to what was left of the aquarium. "Right now, I just need a good fucking salv!"

"I wonder if those grenades chafe against her-" Ruby continued before being interrupted by Weiss snapping "There are no grenades up her skirt!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I have been super busy and stressed out about other things, but I finally got around to another chapter! I hope you all liked it, and if you did, be sure to let me know in a comment!  
> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	26. Chapter 26

The sun set on the normally peaceful neighborhoods of northwestern Vale as an unusually ugly sight made its way through the streets. It was a sleek, black car that normally would have fit right into the upper-class area, but this one had clearly been through a lot. It was riddled with bullet holes, broken windows, and the large man driving it looked more than a little worse for wear.

Junior didn't really pay the awkward glances of passing residents much mind, however, and simply drove on until he finally arrived back at Cinder's manor, where Emerald and Mercury were already waiting for him.

"So, I'm guessing things didn't exactly work out for you either?" Emerald asked as Junior stepped out of his car.

"I'm afraid not" he curtly replied. "That black haired bitch kicked me out right when I was in the middle of sealing the deal".

"Don't worry, pal; it happens to the best of us" Mercury said sympathetically. "Except me, obviously".

"Says the guy who lost to a wounded woman" Emerald cut in.

"Correction" Mercury countered, putting up a finger in Emerald's direction. "I didn't lose, I just left earlier than I wanted to". Naturally, Emerald rolled her eyes at this.

"Actually, I think he's right" Cinder said as she walked in from behind them, still completely soaked in salt water. "We might not have destroyed The Saints like we wanted to, but I would hardly call what happened today a defeat".

"Woah there, Cindy!" said Mercury. "You take a victory lap out in the bay or something?"

"Unfortunately not" Cinder replied as she wrung out her hair. "I was driven off as well. One army I can deal with, but two is starting to push it - so Beacon still stands".

"So it was all a wash then?" Emerald asked in disbelief.

"Not necessarily" Cinder said back. "Regardless of whether or not we took any territory, their organization is undoubtedly in shambles. We destroyed their businesses, ruined their headquarters, burned their product, and killed scores of their men. All we need to do is strike while the iron is still hot, and the city will be as good as ours".

"Yeah? Well, that's what you said last time, and look how that turned out!" pointed out Junior. "What makes this time any different?"

"This time, we won't bother trying to take down their organization all at once" Cinder replied. "One does not dismantle a complex machine with just a hammer, after all. No, we are going to take them apart… piece by piece".

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, another beat-up car - a white truck, to be more exact - made its way home through the orange light of the setting sun, though no one even batted an eye at the way it looked, or the fact that the blonde driver was sitting next to a very dead body.

Yang whistled to herself as she finally parked her car in front of Beacon and stepped out, admiring the extensive damage The Embers had done to the entrance of the school. Inside the cafeteria, things weren't that much better, as there was shattered stone, glass, and dead bodies as far as the eye could see. Not everyone had kicked the metaphorical bucket, however, as several Saints were busy putting in new glass onto Smiley's shark tank and refilling it with water.

"Holy shit… looks like I missed one hell of a party! At least, Smiley won't be going hungry anytime soon…" Yang said as she walked up to them. "Any of you guys seen my sis around here?"

"I think she's up in her room" the Saint holding the hose replied before being cut off as Smiley jumped out of the tank to try and bite at her leg. "Up up up! Stay down, you toothy bitch, or I'm putting a grenade in your next meal!"

The shark simply responded by splashing her right in the face.

"Fuckin' exotic pets…" the Saint grumbled as she got back to work.

"Alright, thanks!" Yang shouted up to her. "Try not to lose too many toes while I'm gone!"

Yang then limped her way up to her sister's room and found Ruby snuggling up to her guns, Little Red and Ogama, on her couch. Blake was nearby as well, typing away on her laptop from Ruby's bed while Weiss soaked her left arm in a bowl of white goo next to her.

"I'm so sorry I left you two behind today when I went to eh movies…" Ruby cooed as she kissed the sides of her guns. "I had no idea that we were going to be having so much fun, so I took Stacy instead as kind of a pity date… but, I promise that I'll never leave you guys alone again!"

She then began to passionately kiss the trigger guards of each gun while her friends looked on with various shocked expressions on their faces.

"Aw, that's so sweet…" commented Yang. "In a really fucked up sort of away, but still sweet!"

Ruby's head shot up from the couch as soon as she heard her sister's voice, and she promptly ran over to greet the older girl.

"You're back!" she shouted as she pulled Yang into a tight hug. "So, how'd it go? You kick some serious Ember butt?"

"More or less" she replied. "They kicked my butt too, but at least I got some sexy new scars to show for it. All they got was dead!"

"Does that mean you actually took down one of their lieutenants?" asked Weiss.

Yang paused nervously before replying "Y-yeah, I kicked his sorry butt too!"

"But you didn't kill him" Weiss stated plainly. It wasn't a question.

"No… but I killed his spirit!" Yang countered. "You should have seen the way he ran away from me, crying like a little-"

"Unbelievable!" interrupted Weiss.

"Okay, maybe he wasn't exactly crying, but I still-" Yang began to say before being cut off again.

"Not your stupid story, dumbass: this day!" Weiss shouted. "We were taken completely by surprise, our gang got their asses handed to them, and we barely stopped them from destroying or entire organization! And what do we have to show for it? A boatload of dead Saints, and some _fucking scars!_ "

"Well, what are you yelling at me for, then?!" Yang shouted back angrily. "I was the one who took one for the damn team! Doesn't that mean I get, like, a purple bandana or something for that?"

Weiss responded by snarling a little and taking left arm out of the bowl in front of her, revealing her second-degree burns to the room.

"You weren't the only one wounded, shitface!" Weiss growled.

"Ouch!" Yang replied with a wince. "Sorry, I just thought you were getting a manicure or something…"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response" Weiss replied as she rolled her eyes and resubmerged her arm.

"Calm down, girls! It doesn't matter how much damage they did, or how much money we lost. What matters is that we're still alive!" Ruby interjected as she pulled her friends into a very awkward hug. "And if we're still alive, then that means we can kill! Blake! Tell us what your amazing, fool-proof counter-attack plan is!"

"I thought you'd never ask" Blake replied before shrugging off the hug and turning her computer around. Onscreen was a picture of Cinder, her three lieutenants, and a small map of Vale.

"The Embers operate out of northwestern Vela and control all illegal activity in the upper class district of Vale, and almost of all the commercial district - minus the sliver in the east we control" Blake explained. "They receive their income from three main sources, each of which are managed by Cinder Fall's three lieutenants: extortion and assassination, overseen and administered by Emerald Sustrai, illegal gambling, run by Mercury Black, and illicit and expensive drugs distributed through a series of nightclubs owned by Hei Xiong".

"Hey, I know that guy!" Yang interrupted, pointing to the picture of Junior on the screen. "That bastard banned me for life just because I punched _one guy_ in the nuts for no reason! I was hoping I'd get some payback one day!"

"Well, luckily for you, he's probably going to be the first on our big 'To Kill' list" Blake replied. "But there's a catch".

"You mean the fun, 'chasing butterflies' kind of catch, or the lame 'lose a game of Hot Potato with a grenade' kind of catch?" Ruby asked.

"The latter" said Blake. "We held off attacking The Embers because we didn't consider them a real threat, but they demonstrated today that they not only have the will to attack us on our own turf, but also the capability. I doubt that they're going to give us any time to nurse our wounds, let alone gather up enough forces to launch a real attack".

"Oh, don't worry about that! I've got all the force we need right here!" Ruby said as she held up her guns. "Isn't that right, my adorable little friends?"

"As confident as I am in your amazing ability to destroy anything that moves, I think we're going to have to play things a bit more defensive than usual" Blake argued.

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed. "And, as we all know, the best defense is a good offense! Which logically means that, if we need to be on the defensive, we should attack even more than we usually do!"

"Uh… I actually think that's the exact opposite of what I wanted to say" countered Blake, though her boss simply ignored her.

"So, as soon as they hit us, we need to hit them back ten times as hard, right where it hurts the most! Like… like bees! They won't be able to take our honey away from us if they're too busy getting stung!"

"You do realize bees die after stinging someone, right?" asked Blake.

"Not if they're queens" said Weiss. "You can count me in, Ruby".

"Hell, if we're gonna go down, we might as well go down swingin'!" added Yang. "Count me in too!"

"There's no way that this is going to end well…" Blake sighed dejectedly. "But, you _are_ the boss, so I guess I'm in too. So, what do you have in mind?"

"Simple! We just wait for them to attack again, and then we do what we do best, right in the middle of their territory to make em stop!" Ruby proclaimed confidently. "Blake! What's the biggest, money-est part of their gang we can target?"

"That would be… the Grand Casino on 15th street" Blake replied after typing on her computer. "An attack there could potentially cost them millions of Lien, possibly even billions if you count potential revenue".

"Then that's where we're going to hit them!" Ruby announced. "Who wants to join me?"

"I'll go" Weiss said before either of her friends even had a chance to reply. "You two can stay and help hold off their attack". She then glanced back down at her left arm and said "I still have a score to settle".

"Oh, you want to teach her a lesson, huh?" Yang asked as she crossed her arms. "I can respect that.

"Y-yeah… something like that…" Weiss stuttered in response, which caused Blake to raise a concerned eyebrow.

"Okay, it's settled then!" Ruby interjected before Blake could say anything. Me and Weiss will be on the offense-defense-offense, and Yang and Blake will be on the offense-defense-defense! Now all we have to do is wait for them to attack again!"

"Don't worry, I doubt we will have to wait that long" replied Blake.

"Eh, I guess it's just as well that me and Weiss aren't on the same team" Yang said as she took a seat next to Ruby in front of her TV. "I doubt she'd be able to handle all my _sick burns!_ "

"Yang!" Weiss shouted at the top of her lungs.

"What? Too soon?"

* * *

Roughly twenty four hours later, and normality seemed to returned to the eastern commercial district once more. The stars shined in the night sky without any smoke clouding the air, and there weren't any gunshots to interrupt the thumping music of the strip clubs that littered this part of Vale. In between those strip clubs, a long black limousine navigated its way through the streets, colorful lights reflecting off it's pitch black windows as it's occupants prepared for their night on the town.

Inside, over a dozen Embers were readying their weapons while their leaders, Cinder and Emerald, chatted together in the back wearing their most elegant dresses.

"My, my, a strip club?" Cinder laughed as she glanced out the tinted windows. How debauched! Is this really how you treat a lady, Ms. Sustrai?"

"You insult me, Ms. Fall!" Emerald said in mock offense. "I prefer to think of them as 'gentlewoman's clubs' - a perfect place for gentle women such as ourselves".

"Ah, my mistake" Cinder apologized as she opened the door next to her. "After you, Ms. Sustrai".

"It would be my pleasure" Emerald replied graciously before stepping outside with a bazooka in hand and blowing a hole right in the entrance of the nearest strip club.

"Looks like we arrived just in time for the fireworks" Emerald said as she put down her rocket launcher and extended a hand to help Cinder from her limo.

"Excellent" Cinder replied as her men began pouring out of the limo towards the club. "Let's go make sure they do not run out of matches, shall we?"

"Let's" Emerald said, taking Cinder's hand.

* * *

Back at Beacon, Ruby and her friends were all fast asleep from waiting all day to hear about Cinder's next attack, only for it to never come. The room was eerily quiet for a room inhabited by all four of The Saints' leaders at once until a soft buzzing sound began to fill the air.

"Ugh!" Weiss groaned from Ruby's bed. "Yang, that's disgusting! If you're going to do that, at least go back to your room first!"

"Hey, don't look at me!" Yang groaned back over the sounds of Ruby's continued snoring. "I don't even use battery-powered stuff!"

"Hold on…" Blake groaned as she reached for vibrating phone and answered it. "Yeah?"

"You'll never guess what strip club The Embers just decided to attack" a female voice replied over the sounds of gunfire.

"The Cat House?" Blake asked.

"The Cat House" came the answer.

"Damn…" Blake Yawned as she stretched herself out. "Sorry this keeps happening to you, Claire".

"No worries" her friend replied. "This might sound kinda weird, but I'm actually getting used to all these shootouts".

"Welcome to my world" said Blake. "Try to get as many people out as you can, and we'll take care of the rest. Stay safe, okay?

"Got it" Claire replied before hanging up.

"Bad news everyone" Blake announced to the room. "It looks like Cinder has decided to start blowing up our strip clubs in the commercial district for her next attack".

"Bad news!?" Ruby shouted, shooting up from her bed suddenly and causing Weiss to let out a surprised "Holy shit!".

"That sounds like _great_ news to me!" Ruby continued. "I mean, yeah, it sucks that our friends are in trouble, but that means we get to go save them! Let's go, Weiss!"

Ruby then quickly grabbed her two sub-machine guns and dashed out the door while Weiss slowly hobbled after her.

"Wait up, you hyperactive gerbil!" Weiss shouted as she struggled to put her shoes on. "You don't even know how to get there!"

"Looks like it's you and me again, Blake" Yang said as she stood up from her resting spot. "You ready to roll?"

"You mean, ready to head off to our almost certain doom yet again?" Blake asked as she tossed yang a motorcycle helmet. "Eh, more or less".

"Awesome!" Yang replied. "Let's go fight some fires!"

* * *

After having the front of their club eradicated, the Saints inside the Cat House quickly scrambled to their feet and tried desperately to hold off the incoming gangsters, firing off randomly through the wreckage of the main entrance. The ones closest to the door found their guns promptly silenced, however as shards of glass suddenly burst through the smoke and slashed each of their throats. A few managed to survive by hiding behind the main bar, but that didn't last long as Emerald with her sub-machine gun, took them out before anyone could react. A few more tried putting up a fight, but most of the survivors simply ran out the back and let The Embers take complete control of the club.

"Sorry, Cinder, I thought for sure this place would be a bit more… _lively_ than this" Emerald apologized with a yawn as her leader walked in.

"That is fine" Cinder replied as she casually stepped on the throat of a woman still choking with glass. "We can always try the next club. In the meantime… what do you say we end this one with a bang?"

Emerald simply smiled in response and signaled the other Embers to clear the building, which they all promptly did so. Once the building was empty, Cinder summoned orange glyphs around her body and, after charging up for a minute, blew a hole in the back of the building even bigger than the one caused by the RPG, and taking out a few unlucky Saints who were still hiding outside.

"Okay, now you're just showing off" Emerald laughed as she walked back in, admiring the destruction.

"Oh, you haven't even seen what I can do yet" Cinder replied as she began walking gracefully towards the next strip club.

A few blocks away, Blake and Yang were still rushing to the scene on their motorcycle, with Blake driving and Yang holding on tightly behind her.

"Im guessing that those giant plumes of smoke and flame are _probably_ the work of our pal Cinder" Yang observed.

"Probably" Blake replied. "Try not to get hurt again. I don't think we can afford to keep patching you up".

"Aw! So you do care" Yang said as she took out her Penetrator and took aim at the first Ember they saw.

The man in question didn't even noticed the two coming until he felt the feeling of purple plastic colliding with the side of his head as they drove by and his neck instantly snapping in the process.

"Strike one!" Yang said proudly as they approached another. "Strike two!" she shouted after another successful hit. "Home run!" Yang concluded triumphantly as she hit a man so hard that he went flying.

"You know that's not how sports work, right?" Blake asked as she kept driving.

"Hey! Don't you dare spoil my sport with your silly 'rules, spoiled sport!" Yang shouted back as blake merely rolled her eyes.

"Looks like we've got company" Emerald said as she glanced outside the club Cinder was currently destroying.

"Well, why don't you invite them in then?" Cinder replied as she shived a man through the sternum with a hunk of glass.

Emerald smiled and turned her focus towards Blake, who suddenly saw a brick wall appear on the road in front of her. The Faunus girl managed to swerve out of the way just in time, but she ended up crashing the bike in the process and seriously denting both her and Yang's auras.

"Hey, what the hell!" Yang swore as she pried herself off the road. "I was right about to get another home run!"

"Well, sorry if I hurt your batting average, but I prefer to avoid head-on collisions when I can" Blake replied, frustrated.

"Collision with what?" Yang asked angrily. "The jack and all? There was nothing there!"

"Wait, you mean you didn't see the-" Blake began to say before being interrupted by incoming gunfire.

"Whatever!" Yang grunted as she picked up the wreck of the motorcycle and used it as a shield. "We can talk about your hallucinations later! Right now, we've got killing to do!"

She then charged towards the Embers firing at her in front of the strip club and crush one of them before moving onto another with her Penetrator. Blake followed not too far behind, taking out whoever she could with her silenced pistol as they fought their way closer and closer to the building.

The two of them were almost there when the club suddenly exploded, sending burning chunks of rubble flying in every direction as a large plume of smoke similar to the one they saw earlier began to rise.

"Shit! I guess Cinder really lives up to her name, huh?" Yang asked as she shielded her eyes from the explosion.

Before Blake could reply, however, more Embers began pouring from the ruins of the building and open fire, pinning the duo down under a hail of heavy weapons fire.

"Crap!" Blake said as she ducked under a block of concrete. "Okay, the way I see it, we've got two options. Either we can try and hold them back here and fight out in the open, or we can retreat back to another club and risk The Embers blowing up that one too".

"Uh, how about we go with the one where we get shot at less?" Yang said as bullets whizzed centimeters from her head.

Blake nodded in reply and they both took off running down the street.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Weiss and Ruby were only just beginning to arrive at their destination: a large skyscraper in the southwestern part of the central commercial district.

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy!" Ruby said excitedly as she hopped out of Weiss's car. "We're almost there!"

"Calm down, Ruby!" Weiss groaned as she stepped outside as well. "We need to at least _try_ to surprise them, you know!"

"I know, I know!" Ruby replied anxiously. "It's just that… my trigger fingers are itching with anticipation! Let's do this!"

"I swear, going on missions with you is more like babysitting than murdering…" Weiss grumbled as she followed her boss into an elevator.

The two then rode the car all the way to the top floor, where they were greeted by two Ember guards in front of a flashy casino entrance. They quickly tried to stop the two women from moving forward, but they didn't get very far as Weiss simply punched them both out. She then grabbed a key off of one of their bodies and let herself inside.

"Woah… what is this place?" Ruby asked in amazement as gazed into the casino and saw shimmering slot machines, glittering chandeliers, spotless red carpeting, well-dressed customers, and green poker tables.

"It's called a casino, Ruby" Weiss replied contemptuously. "It's where morons like you come to lose Lien for the incredibly _slight_ chance they might leave here richer".

"Look at all the games!" Ruby said excitedly as her eyes lit up. "It's like an arcade, but with money instead of tokens! I wanna try them all!"

"Well, if we manage to actually take the place over, then you can play as much as you want" Weiss replied as she took out a sub-machine gun from her purse. " Just make sure to get your money back afterwards".

"Hey, what's going on over here?" another guard asked as he approached the two women. "Oh shit! It's the-"

The man's sentence was abruptly cut short by a dozen bullets to the face from Ruby's twin guns, which quickly caught the attention of everyone else in the casino.

"The Saints?" Ruby asked playfully. "Yeah, we know!"

A second later and the crowd began to panic, rushing towards the emergency exits while the guards desperately drew their weapons to try and gun the Saints down. Meanwhile, Mercury looked down at the chaos unraveling from his office above the casino and promptly picked up his phone.

"Hey, errand boy" Mercrury said into the phone. "You want to earn some pocket change?"

* * *

"Shit!" Yang swore, feeling a bullet bounce off her back as she ran into the nearest Saint controlled club. "Fuckers are persistent!"

"Well, they _are_ trying to kill us" Blake pointed out as she helped the other Saints try to barricade the doors.

Their blockade didn't last very long, however, as a rocket promptly collided with it and decimated the whole front of the building, sending glass, glitter, and Saints flying in every direction.

"Is this how you treat your VIPs?" Cinder asked as she walked in. "How shameful!"

"Sorry, but we don't let in the riff raff!" Yang shouted as she ran forward. "I'm afraid we're gonna have to bounce you!"

Yang's swing of her mighty dildo passed right through Cinder, however, causing her to disappear instantly as if she was never even there.

"What the-" Yang said to herself right before she heard a gun cock right next to her head.

Emerald pulled the trigger a second later, but this was still enough time for Yang to move her head out of the way and dodge the bullet. The sound of the gun right next to her ear, however, caused a great deal of pain and activated Yang's semblance, causing her hair to catch on fire.

"Bitch!" Yang growled as she moved to take a swing at the green haired girl.

But, in spite of the speed and ferocity of Yang's attacks, Emerald seemed able to dodge out of the way with shocking ease, as if she knew exactly what Yang was going to do before she did it.

Blake tried to move to help Yang but found herself occupied as Cinder and the other Embers began to storm into the club. The Saints who still had all their limbs quickly began duking it out with the Ember counterparts while Cinder formed a bow out of glass and took aim at Blake.

The Faunus girl tried to throw Cinder off using a shadow clone, but the arrow she fired somehow passed around the faux Blake and ended up leaving a painful dent in her aura.

"Augh!" Blake cried out in pain as she clutched her side.

"Did you really think a mistress of deception like me would fall for a simple illusion like that?" Cinder asked as she formed another arrow. "That would be funny, if it weren't so tragic".

Cinder then let fly her second arrow, which hurtled right towards Blake's heart. Blake was able to react in time though, kicking up a table in front of her to act as cover. Instead of embedding itself in the wood, however, the arrow simply split in two and struck two nearby Saints in their throats.

Blake then kicked the table towards Cinder and lunged herself after it. Cinder was easily able to swipe the table aside, but the Saint following it got close enough that she was almost able to deliver a shot at point blank range before being swatted aside as well.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the club, Yang was still trying in vain to land a hit on Emerald, who just kept walking back casually while occasionally shooting Yang with her pistol.

"I gotta say, Greenie, you've got some pretty smooth moves!" Yang panted as she fought, trying her best to pretend that being shot didn't hurt as much as it did. "Maybe you should get into the dancing industry yourself! I know a guy…"

"Sorry, but I think that'd be better suited to girls with balloon tits like you" Emerald replied with a smirk as she continued backing up.

Soon the two ended up on one of the strip club's many stages, with this one in particular being surrounded by mirrors so the audience could see every angle of the dancer. At first Yang didn't pay attention to them, but then she noticed that Emerald didn't seem to be where she thought she was in the reflection. In fact, according to the mirrors, Emerald was actually a good foot in front of her.

"You know what? Nevermind" Yang said right before throwing her Penetrator forward into Emerald's chest, forcing her to crash through the mirrors. "Your dance moves suck".

* * *

Back at the Grand Casino, Weiss was diligently gunning down any Ember guard who dared cross her path, while Ruby sat a nearby poker table.

"Wow, I've never seen so many cards at once!" Ruby mused to herself as she tried to try one of her card tricks with over eight decks of cards. When that didn't work, she tried munching on a nearby poker chip but ended up spitting it right out. "Ick! These things don't taste like chips at all! What a ripoff!"

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted to her boss as she took a moment to reload. "In case you haven't noticed, we still have lots of dudes to murder! God, I can't believe I have to tell you of all people that…"

"Yeah, just give me another minute!" Ruby replied, picking up some Lien off a nearby corpse. "I wanna try one of these things now!"

She then sat herself in front of the closest slot machine, put in her money, and pulled the lever. After spinning for a few moments, the wheels stopped and it revealed that she had, in fact, lost.

"Aw…" Ruby groaned before trying again. "Aww…" she moaned after her second loss. "Awww…" groaned after her third. "Hey, Weiss! I think this one is broken!"

"It's a slot machine, dumbass!" Weiss shouted in reply. "Whether you win or not is completely random!"

"What!?" Ruby gasped in shock. "But that's not fair Augh!"

She then angrily tore the arm off the slot machine and used it to tear the throat out of a nearby Ember right as he rounded the slot machine to try and kill her. Another then tried to sneak up behind her, but she simply grabbed hold of his head and slammed his face so hard into the slot machine that the screen cracked and Lien cards were sent flying everywhere.

"Yay!" Ruby cheered to herself. "Now _this_ is a game I can get behind!"

Ruby's jubilations were then cut short by the sound of slow clapping, at which point both her and Weiss turned to see Mercury coming down from his office.

"Wow, congratulations" he said sarcastically as he kept clapping. "You two officially surpassed how much idiosy I thought two dumbasses were capable of. I mean, attacking my place while my friends are busy tearing your shit up? That's impressive! Really, you two should be proud of yourselves".

"Funny; the fact that you're not running yet seems even dumber to me" Weiss replied as she took aim at Mercury's face.

"Oh, so you're going for the all-time high score for retarded, huh?" Mercury asked as he took a fighting stance. "Okay then, be my guest!"

He then dashed forward and launched himself into a flying kick towards Weiss, who was able to easily block the strike by summoning one of her glyphs. Mercury saw that coming, though, and used it as a springboard to launch himself towards Ruby. She was able to use her semblance to duck out of the way in time, but she didn't expect him to land as quickly as he did which gave him the opportunity to land a kick/shot right into her back. Mercury then tried to hit her with a follow-up strike, but she was able to crawl away in time and began running around the casino with Mercury in hot pursuit.

Weiss took her time to try and line up a shot on Mercury but was interrupted by a large hand suddenly wrapping around one of her arms.

"Where do you think you're doing?" Junior asked as he picked Weiss up off the ground.

Weiss didn't reply and simply kicked Junior straight in the chest, launching her out of his grip and giving her the chance to get away. Junior tried his best to take after her, but she was far too quick and nimble, and was able to easily take pot shots at him with her sub-machine gun while she hid behind rows of slot machines.

Growing frustrated, Junior took out his Batzooka and launched a rocket right towards where Weiss was hiding, blowing up an entire row of slot machines in the process and sending Lien flying everywhere.

One of those cards landed right in the middle of Mercury's path, causing him to accidentally trip and fall right into a pile of Lien.

"Damn it!" he swore as he picked himself back up. "More money, more problems, I suppose".

"Really?" Ruby's voice said from right behind him. Turning around, Mercury saw Ruby standing there next to a poker table covered in flaming cards and poker chips that were set alight by Ruby's signature guns.

"Well then, let's test that theory!" Ruby announced right before she flipped the table and covered Mercury in flaming paper and plastic. His aura was able to protect him from the heat, but he still ended up covered in the stuff, which caused him to trip and slide a little as he ran through the inferno. Once on the other side, he launched into another jump kick and managed to land a blow right into Ruby's face, sending her flying.

Junior, meanwhile, finally managed to catch up to Weiss and knock the gun out her hands, leaving her completely defenseless. He then moved to finish her with an overhead smash, but Weiss managed to kick up a broken roulette wheel to use as a shield right before the blow landed. She then grabbed hold of a fallen chip rake and broke it over Junior's chest, making him even more angry in the process. He took another swing at her shield and hit with enough force to send her backwards several yards. Weiss managed to remain standing through all this, but she quickly found herself surrounded by more Embers as they charged into the room.

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!" Weiss groaned before tossing her roulette wheel, which moved in an arc and managed to knock them all down in one throw.

Junior then charged up behind her and tried to hit her from behind, but she merely stepped out of the way and grabbed hold of Junior's hands.

"Hold on, let me borrow this for a second" Weiss said before activating the bat's bazooka mode and blowing up all the guards. "Thanks. Now, where were we?"

" _This_ is the part where I snap your bones like twigs!" Junior replied, tugging his Batzooka away before moving in for another swing.

"Close, but I think you might have the roles switched there" Weiss replied as she continued to dodge his blows.

Ruby, meanwhile, was still playing cat and mouse with Mercury, running through rows and rows of slot machines and taking pot shots at each other whenever they could.

"Augh, I can't get a bead on her!" a surviving guard grumbled as he tried in vain to get Ruby within his sights.

"Hmmm… I think I might have an idea" the Ember next to him said before sticking out one of her legs into the aisle.

Ruby managed to wiz by the two right before the leg stretched out, but Mercury wasn't so lucky and ended up tripping right into a slot machine.

"Oops. Sorry, boss!" the Ember quickly apologized. "It's kinda hard to get the timing right when you're both just motion blurs!"

"You are so fired if you somehow live through this" Mercury replied as he pried his face off the slot machine just in time for Ruby to dash on by try shooting him again. The bullets just ended up whizzing past him, however, but they still managed to find a home in the chests of the two guards who tried to trip Ruby earlier.

Thinking fast, Mercury quickly launched into a slide across the floor and slid under Ruby's fire before kicking his leg up and knocking away Ogama from Ruby's right hand.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted in shock as she struggled to dodge more of Mercury's blows and aim a shot at the same time. "Don't you dare touch my boyfriend like that!"

"Wait, your what?" Mercury asked in surprise. "Oh man, this day just gets better and better!"

Ruby blushed at this and tried to shoot him once again, but all her shots harmlessly collided with the slot machine behind him and sent Lien flying everywhere.

"So, is that other gun your boyfriend too?" Mercury asked mockingly.

"Actually, Little Red is my _girl_ friend, thank you very much!" Ruby replied. "And no, you can't touch her either!"

"My mistake" Mercury said as he rolled his eyes. "So, when you fuck them, do you put the safeties on to stop them from blowing your brains out through your vag, or is a just a condom good enough?"

"Um… we haven't exactly reached that stage in our relationship yet…" Ruby replied with an even redder blush. "I was thinking we might save that for after marriage…"

"Hahaha! Oh my god!" Mercury snorted, laughing uncontrollably now. "You really are taking this seriously, aren't you? I can't-"

Mercury found himself abruptly interrupted as Weiss suddenly dashed past him and he felt Junior's Bazooka collide with his chest and sent him back several feet.

"Hey, watch it!" Mercury shouted as he tried his best to remain on his feet. "I'm the one piece of equipment here that can't be replaced, you know!"

"I'll keep that in mind" Junior replied before taking another swing that came dangerously close to Mercury's chest again.

"Hey! I know that one wasn't an accident!" Mercury yelled defiantly, but Junior simply smiled in response and kept on fighting.

"Well, so much for your brilliant plan, boss" Weiss told Ruby as she dodged yet another of Junior's swings. "What do we do now?"

"Aw, don't be so gloomy, Weiss!" Ruby replied, pointing her gun towards the ceiling. "The night's still young, after all! So turn that frown upside down!"

She then shot the cable holding up one of the chandeliers above the room right as Junior walked under it, knocking him out instantly and burying him under a pile of glass. With him taken out of the picture, Ruby was free to focus on Mercury again, who promptly ran up and tried to deliver a roundhouse kick right to her temple. Ruby managed to grab hold it right before the kick landed, however, and began to spin.

The force of the twirl was more than enough to lift Mercury off his feet and he began to spin around the room. Weiss saw this as her chance to move in for the kill, but a shot to the aura from Mercury's left boot stopped her at the last second.

"My ear!" Ruby cried out in pain as she let go of Mercury's leg and sent him flying into a window that overlooked the city. His body crashed right through the bullet-ridden glass and he began plummeting several stories before using the recoil from his gunboots to propel him safely back through another window.

The strain from the fight was beginning to show, however, and he was certainly in no condition to go back upstairs and keep fighting. So, he swallowed his pride and took out his cell phone.

"Hey, Cindy…" he said cordially into the receiver as more and more Embers kept sprinting up the stairs behind him. "We might have a bit of a problem at my casino…"

* * *

Cinder was right about to fire another arrow at Blake when she heard the crash, and she turned to see Emerald lying in a pile of glass in front of Yang.

"Oh my! It appears you've actually struck for once, my dear Emerald" Cinder quipped as she lowered her bow. "I've warned you about using the same trick too many times in a row".

"Yeah, I know" Emerald replied as she rolled away just in time to avoid one of Yang's punches. "It turns out these girls aren't as stupid as I first thought".

"See? I told you I'm more than just a pretty fist!" Yang gloated as she started to make her attacks wider and harder for Emerald to doge.

"Yes, we do appear to keep underestimating them, don't we?" Cinder asked as she blocked a 'surprise' attack from Blake. "Why don't we change that?"

You took the words right out of my mouth~" Emerald replied before backflipping over to Cinder's positions and taking her spot fighting blake.

Cinder, meanwhile, walked her way over to Yang just as she picked her Penetrator back up. Yang tried to make the first strike with it, but Cinder simply caught the purple dildo mid-swing melted it right in her hand.

"Wow… and I thought _I_ was hot" Yang marveled before tossing her ruined dick to the side. "But if you think that I can't take the heat, then you better get a new kitchen!"

Unamused, Cinder replied "That doesn't even make any-" only to find herself cut off by one of Yang's punches straight to the face.

"Then quit your bitchin, 'cause I'll be throwing everything but the sink!" Yang replied before going in for another hit.

Cinder snarled as she summoned an orange glyph to block Yang's next attack, and her eyes began to glow.

Emerald and Blake, meanwhile, were busy trying to see whose illusions could fool who, with each summoning more and more fake versions of themselves to try and throw the other off. Eventually it got to the point where neither really knew where the other even was, though Blake was able to use that to her advantage by using her silenced pistol to take out whatever Embers she could from the safety of the shadows.

"Hey, Blake!" Yang called out, taking a break from her fight from Cinder for a moment. "She's the one on the ri-"

"Excuse me" Cinder interrupted as she tossed an explosive fireball in Yang's direction. "In case you've forgotten, I'm the one you're dancing with and it's rude to ignore your partner".

"Aw, I'm sorry!" Yang mockingly apologized. "Allow me to offer you a seat!"

Yang then picked up a chair and hurled it towards Cinder's face right as she was preparing another blast. That chair was promty followed by another one, and another, not doing much damage but still breaking her concentration every single time.

"Hey, cut that out!" Cinder shouted across the room.

"What's the matter? Don't you _chair_ -ish my sense of humor?" Yang asked before tossing yet another chair.

This time Cinder was able to knock it away in time before collided, allowing her to launch another blast that nearly collided with Yang's head.

"Oh, I get it! Your ass must be getting tired from getting kicked so much!" Yang shouted. "Well, I think I have just the solution!"

She followed this up by, of course, throwing another chair.

"Enough!" Cinder snapped as she kicked the chair away. "It's about time we ended this…"

With that, Cinder's eyes lit up once again and her whole body became surrounded by orange glyphs. Yang tried once again to toss more furniture at her, but all it did was bounce right off. Blake, meanwhile, was still too busy dueling with Emerald to notice until all the illusions she'd been fighting disappeared and the real Emerald dashed out of the strip club.

Confused, she turned and saw Yang still trying in vain to get hit Cinder while spouting inaudible puns in spite of the fact that the ground was now shaking beneath her glowing form.

"Yang, quick! Get down!" Blake shouted as she ran up to Yang and tackled her behind one of the stripper stages.

Cinder's blast finally went off a few seconds later, obliterating almost the entire club in a rain of fire and ash. By the time it was over, Cinder was left panting alone in the center of a pile of burning rubble.

The crackling of the flames was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Cinder's cell phone beginning to buzz, and she quickly composed herself before reaching to answer it.

"Yes, my dear?" she asked into the phone.

"Hey, Cindy… we might have a bit of a problem at my casino…" Mercury's voice replied over the sound of distant gunshots. "Actually, kind of a big problem. The Saints are here and they're pretty determined to take the place over. I tried getting Bear-y here to help, but he just ended up getting knocked out instantly. What a wuss".

"That's fine" Cinder replied as she casually wiped the blood and soot off her dress. "Our work is done here anyways… two leaders down, two to go. We'll see you soon".

Emerald politely opened the door to Cinder's limousine and they both stepped inside, leaving the ruins of the strip club behind just as Blake and Yang emerged coughing from the rubble.

"Holy shit… bitch really stripped that club down" Yang coughed as she lifted a column off of her. "But at least… she didn't strip them all…"

"Yeah…" Blake replied. "Better text Ruby and let her know Cinder's on her way. Something tells me that she won't be too quick to leave, though…"

* * *

"Aw, come on! Don't tell me you're all dead already!" Ruby shouted as she fired wildly at the entrance of the casino while Weiss busily gathered up as much Lien as she could into a large sack. Her collections were interrupted by the sound off her cell phone ringing however, and she checked her phone to find she had just gotten a message from Blake.

"Shit, already?" Weiss grumbled to herself. "Alright, time to go, Ruby!"

"Aw, but we were just getting started!" Ruby whined as she quickly reloaded both her guns. "Oh well… at least we get to leave them a present!"

She then activated her semblance, found the source of the casino's emergency sprinkler system, and disabled it before dashing back into the room, jumping on top the last remaining chandelier, and showering the ground with bullets. A few seconds later, and the floor had a giant, flaming smiley face in the middle of the room.

"Mwah!" Ruby said as she kissed her fingers. "A work a pure art!"

"Yeah, yeah, a real masterpiece" Weiss said as she dragged Ruby away by the hood. "Now let's go before you lose an ear, or worse".

"Hey, where are you going?!" Junior shouted at the fleeing girls as he finally managed to drag himself out from under his chandelier. "I knew I should have pretended to have a flat tire…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story beta-read by Mr. Stark 357


	27. Chapter 27

The fires were still crackling by the time Cinder Fall arrived at Mercury's casino, and the firefighters there were trying in vain to keep it under control. In spite of all their hoses spraying water and white dust everywhere, the blaze was anything but receding and threatened to engulf the whole upper half of the skyscraper at any moment. From the outside, the orange flames lit up the night sky, practically making it a giant candle in the night.

"Shit!" the firefighter captain swore as she adjusted her gas mask. "Someone get more hoses up here! This isn't enough!"

It was then that she finally noticed the elegantly dressed woman next to her who seemed to be walking through the flames like they weren't even there.

"Huh? Aero, I thought I told you to evacuate the build-" the captain shouted before she was abruptly cut off.

"That won't be necessary, my dear" Cinder replied cooly. "I have everything under control…"

"Wait, stop, you'll get-" the firefighter begged only for Cinder to walk right into the inferno. She remained perfectly calm, however, and before any of the flames could even so much as touch her skin, she summoned a circle of orange glyphs around her and the fire began to be pulled towards them instead. Soon, all the flames in the room began streaming towards the glyphs like a river, leaving behind whatever they were burning. By the time Cinder was done, the room had turned from bright orange to grey ash - still ruined, but much preferable to losing the whole skyscraper.

"You can go now" Cinder told the stunned firefighters behind her.

"But… we haven't-" their captain began before Cinder promptly shut her down.

"That wasn't a suggestion" she glared.

"Uh… yes ma'am!" the captain said with a hurried salute. "We'll get right out of your hair!"

They then quickly gathered up their equipment and went back down the stairwell, past where Mercury had been leaning against the wall in wait. Seeing that the situation was finally under control, he finally reentered his casino.

"About time you got here" he told Cinder as he surveyed the wreckage. "For a second there I thought this place was about to take our namesake a little too literally".

"You'll forgive me if I'm not in a joking mood, Mercury" Cinder replied. "Where are The Saints?"

"They took off a few minutes ago. I've got a few boys chasing them down as we speak, but I wouldn't put money on them succeeding" Mercury explained. "Not that placing bets is an option anymore".

"Hey, what's going on?" Junior asked as he reentered the room too. "Are things finally under control?"

"Yeah, they are" Mercury said sardonically. "Oh, and thanks for helping with that, by the way. Couldn't have done it without you".

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, not everyone in this gang has fire powers like her" Junior argued back.

"That's enough, you two" Cinder interrupted.. "I'm very disappointed in you, Mercury. This kind of thing I expect from Junior, but you I expected much better than this.

"Wait, what?" Junior asked in confusion, but Cinder just ignored him.

"This is exactly the kind of unnecessary damage I'd hoped we'd avoid, and regardless of Junior's failure to protect the casino, it was still under _your_ protection and management, which means that you will have to suffer the consequences" Cinder continued. "That will be a million Lien off your pay for the next month".

"Darn!" Mercury cursed as he snapped his fingers. "So much for that getting that new fleet of cars I saw in the store window the other day".

"A million Lien!?" Junior exclaimed. "That's almost as much as I make in a whole year! Why don't you pay me that much?"

"Well, let's see…" Mercury began. "I've been in the gang longer, my operations make more money than you, I have a higher kill count than you and, oh, let's not forget that I'm not just a shitty bartender".

"Well, he's not wrong" added Cinder.

"Screw this…" Junior sighed in frustration as he went back out the door he came. "I'm going back to Taijitu night back at my place. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll see another trust fund baby try and drink a barstool".

"You do that" dismissed Mercury. "So, what's the plan now, Cindy?"

"Well, I'm relatively certain I just eliminated half of The Saint's leadership, so all we really need to do is track down the final half and snuff them out as well" she replied.

"Sounds like a plan" smiled Mercury. "Now, if you don't mind me, I've got some logs to saw".

"Be my guest" said Cinder. "I'm sure they'll perfect for lighting The Saint's pyre in the morning…"

* * *

"Woohoo!" Ruby shouted as she hung out the window of Weiss's car, tossing Lien cards everywhere as they sped down the road towards Beacon. "That was awesome!"

"Ruby, stop that!" Weiss groaned. "I went through a lot of trouble stealing all those, you know!"

"I'm sorry, it's just… I'm so hyped right now!" Ruby giggled as she sat back down. "That was our first big casino heist, after all! And it was soooo much simpler than they make it look in the movies! No distracting guards, deliberately getting caught, or last minute betrayals! Just good, old-fashioned gunplay!"

"Yeah, well, this might seem like fun and games to you, but you're not the one who has to launder the money to make sure we can't be tracked" Weiss grumbled.

"Launder Lien?" Ruby asked. "Is that to get all the blood off it or something? If so, then maybe I can help! No one's faster at washing things than me!"

Weiss didn't reply and simply let out a long sigh before staring off towards the former school in front of ther.

"Say, do you think this car would sink if I drove it into the bay?" asked Weiss.

"Er, yeah, probably" answered Ruby. "Why?"

"Just something I think about a lot when I'm driving with you." Weiss replied as she finally parked the car in front of Beacon's front door.

"Let's go see how badly they screwed up this time" Weiss told Ruby as they entered the cafeteria.

"Hey, I resent that!" Yang shouted from a couch inside, still covered in soot and ash. "We held her off just like we were supposed to!"

"Did they burn down The Cat House again?" Weiss immediately asked.

"N-no!" Yang stuttered. "They blew it up! Completely different!"

"Of course…" Weiss sighed as she sat down next to Yang.

"Hey, don't act so grumpy, girls!" Ruby insisted chipperly. "Our plan worked, after all!"

"Well, technically it did, but I wouldn't rush to call this a victory" interjected Blake from another chair. "We might have dealt The Embers a massive blow, but they hit us almost as hard - and we don't' have nearly the kind of buffer cash they do".

"Hmph! I guess Vale didn't need Captain Pyrrha's help after all - the gangs are just going to wipe themselves out!" whined Weiss.

"Okay, I'll admit that maybe that last plan wasn't the best thought out, but I'm sure that things will go better next time!"

"Oh? And what's your next big plan, 'Boss'?" Weiss asked sarcastically. "Stand out in the middle of an open field with targets painted on our backs in the hope that we can somehow reflect their bullets back if they hit our skulls at the right angles?!"

"Actually… acting as bait might not be such a bad idea" said Blake.

"Oh no, not you too, Blake!" Weiss gasped. "You're supposed to be the smart one! You can't leave me alone with these morons!"

"Calm down, calm down. Just hear me out, okay?" Blake replied. "Thanks to that last escapade, Cinder now believes that Yang and I are dead. That means that they'll be gunning extra hard for you two. So, if we were to place you two somewhere public - but unimportant to us - then that would give us the chance to hit them and draw their fire away from our gang at the same time. Kinda like Ruby's earlier plan, but with the kinks worked out".

"Yay!" Ruby cheered. "I always knew I was secretly a kinky genius!"

"Woah there!" Weiss interrupted. "So, I'm just supposed to go along with all this? Just because I work with one doesn't mean I'm a suicidal nut too!"

"What's the matter, Weiss?" Yang asked with a cough. "Can't handle the heat?"

"As if! I just don't want to put my neck on the line for no reason…" Weiss replied.

"Well, if you can't handle it…" Yang said snidely.

"Fine!" snapped Weiss. "I'm a professional, after all; this should be nothing I can't handle".

"Yay for professionalism!" Ruby said as she jumped up and down excitedly.

"So, where do you plan on hitting The Embers while we distract Cinder?" Weiss asked, ignoring Ruby completely.

"I was thinking we could try capturing Junior's Club first" Blake replied. "It's on the edge of their territory, it'll only be partly defended, and it will give us a decent boost in Lien if we can-"

"Ha!" Yang suddenly laughed. "We don't need a reason to rain on that asshole's parade! Let's just bust in and ruin his day… permanently".

"Wait, wouldn't that mean you'd be ruining the rest of his life?" Ruby pointed out. "Or do you just plan on ruining his time during the day, like he was a vampire, or a ninja, or a ninja vampire".

"Augh, it's a figure of speech!" Yang explained. "It means that I am going to murder the shit out of him! Figuratively. Well, and also literally too, I guess, considering how hard I plan on punching him".

"Woohoo! Now that's a plan I can get behind figuratively, literally, and literarily!" Ruby cheered.

"And that's when I killed them, your honor" Weiss thought to herself.

"Now then" Ruby said, placing a friendly arm around Weiss's shoulder, "it might take a while for The Embers to finally launch their attack, but don't worry, Weiss! I know just the place we can hang out until they do!"

* * *

"You know… I'm not even surprised" Weiss said to herself, surrounded by the sound of arcade noises, cheesy music, and the smell of even cheesier pizza. After spending the night and most of the next day recovering, Ruby finally put her plan into action, sending Blake and Yang over to Junior's club while she and Weiss found themselves in a small building stacked wall to wall with children and faulty animatronics.

"Aw, what's the matter, Weiss?" Ruby said next to her. "Grimm E. Cheese's supposed to to be a place of fun and enjoyment! Lighten up a little!"

"You'll have to forgive me if the thought of processed cheese doesn't exactly _sit well_ with me" Weiss deadpanned. "Besides, isn't this place for little kids? Are you sure they'll even let us inside?"

"Oh, don't worry, they know me here" Ruby replied.

"Oh god, it's her again!" someone shouted from inside the restaurant. "We've got a code red!"

"Evacuate all the children and nonessential employees!" someone else shouted over the sound of screaming. "Shut down the ovens! Buy new fire extinguishers! Make sure we're still insured!"

"See, no problem!" Ruby smiled. "Now all we have to do is pass the time until Cinder shows up!"

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about any kids getting in the way" Weiss grumbled as frightened parents streamed past her.

Ruby seemed to be completely oblivious to the chaos breaking out around her and simply skipped over to the dining area and sat down at a table with a large birthday cake on it, it's candles still lit.

"Oooh, free cake!" Ruby cooed right before grabbing a fistfull of it.

Weiss rolled her eyes a little but nonetheless took a seat across from Ruby as a terrified teenager in a monochrome uniform walked up to them.

"C-can I take your order?" the waiter asked nervously over the sound of Ruby crunching a candle in half.

""I'll haff the biggesh cheesh pisha you haf!" Ruby mumbled through her food.

"Coming right up, ma'am!" she hastily replied before rushing off to the kitchen. She returned a few seconds later with an enormous pizza and placed it between the two gangsters. "Here you are, ma'am!"

"Thank you!" Ruby said as she tossed a fistful of Lien in the girl's direction. "Now this, Weiss, is service! Better than even a five-star restaurant!"

"Well, I'll give you that at least…" Weiss said before grabbing a slice and taking a bite.

* * *

"Alright everyone, here's the plan" Cinder said as she addressed the Embers gathered in her boardroom around a large replica of Beacon.

"I know that Ms. Rose and her lieutenants - excuse me, lieuten _ant_ \- sleep and spend most of their time in this area of the complex" she said, pointing towards the dormitories with a long, extendable pointer. "I'm going to infiltrate the building and silently subdue any guards I encounter along the way. Once I've finally located The Saints' leaders, my tactics will start to grow a lot less subtle. If for some reason I do not call someone myself to commence the main attack, you can take the distant sound of screaming and the rising smoke as your signal. Focus on eliminating their lower level members and cutting off all avenues of escape, and I'll take care of the Huntresses myself".

"No you won't" interrupted Mercury as he stared at his phone.

"Doubting my abilities, are we?" Cinder replied, starting to grow annoyed. "Perhaps you would like a refresher of what exactly I can do?"

"That won't be necessary - and neither will this little toy set of yours" Mercury said, turning his phone around. "Take a look".

Onscreen was news footage of SWAT cars surrounding a Grimm E. Cheese's while a female reporter spoke into the camera. Cinder couldn't hear what the woman was saying at first, but Mercury quickly turned up the volume to fix that.

"... according to reports, the infamous Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee are both inside this building as we speak" Jane Valderamo explained.

The camera then zoomed into the restaurant to show a smiling Ruby next to a frowning Weiss as they both rode mechanical forces with their guns set off to the side.

"There has been no word yet on whether or not they've stolen anything, taken any hostages, or made any demands, but the Vale PD has been monitoring the situation closely for any developments".

"So, as much as I'd love to see you sneak in with that catsuit, what do you say we just sit back, relax, and let the cops do our job for us?" Mercury asked as he turned off his phone's screen.

"Well, I must admit that this does make things a bit simpler for us, but I'd hardly call this a reason to slack off" Cinder replied. "All this does is change our destination".

"Oh, come on!" Mercury whined. "We finally get a lucky break, and we don't take advantage of it!?"

"You know as well as I do that luck doesn't exist" Cinder replied. "Besides, I think the Vale PD has shown _exactly_ how capable they are at handling The Saints. 'Lucky' for them, however, that's about to change. Call the mayor and let her know that the force just got two new captains…"

"Of course Emerald just _had_ to be out whacking some senator the day I have to talk to the biggest bitch in town…" Mercury grumbled as he typed in the mayor's number. "Hello, beautiful! How's it going? 'Kay, listen, we need a little favor…"

* * *

"Oh no, Weiss! Look out!" Ruby warned as she ducked behind cover and began blind firing over it. "They're coming right for you!"

"You do realize that ducking doesn't actually do anything, right?" Weiss said dully as she kept firing her toy gun towards the computer screen in front of her. "And even if it did, Grimm don't really use projectiles, so what are you even hiding from?"

"Ssh!" Ruby shushed. "Not now, Weiss! I'm in the zone!"

Ruby then popped up from behind the stand that held the light guns between games and pulled the trigger before the screen suddenly shattered from a very real bullet.

"Shit!" Weiss swore as the entire arcade was suddenly peppered with bullets from the outside. "Get down!"

Ruby quickly ducked back down behind her stand.

"On the other side, you moron!" Weiss shouted.

Both gangsters scrambled to the other side of the arcade cabinet as the police outside kept on firing into the restaurant.

"Well, so much for the cops holding back for the employees…" Weiss grumbled angrily.

"Yeah, in retrospect, maybe I chose a place a _little bit_ too public to act as bait" Ruby said awkwardly.

"Next time, I choose the plan, got it?" Weiss said as she prepped her real handguns. "

"Fair enough" Ruby conceded as tear gas canisters were launched into the room.

The first SWAT Teams entered the building through the shattered windows a few seconds later, fanning out over the sound of verbally thankful employees. The group that entered on the right didn't make it far before Ruby finally burst out from hiding and opened fire with her twin guns.

"10 points!" she exclaimed as she gunned down the officer in front. "20 points! 40 points!"

The last officer in the group managed to get close enough that Ruby just tried smacking her away, only to find the woman miraculously still standing.

"Combo breaker~" the cop said confidently as she held Ruby's guns firmly in place.

"That voice…" Ruby whispered before jumping backwards away from the 'cop'.

"Surprised to see me, darling?" Cinder asked from under her gas mask and body armor as she stepped over the dead bodies around her. "I'll admit that I usually wear more… expensive attire, but at least this comes close to the power my clothes usually convey".

"Oh my gosh!" Ruby squealed as her eyes lit up. "You're actually here! Uh, could you continue being right here for a few moments? I need to, uh… go to the little girl's room!"

Ruby then turned to run in the opposite direction, only to find herself suddenly strangled by her cape as Cinder grabbed onto her hood.

"Sorry, but you're not going any-" Cinder began to say only to be cut off as Ruby's cape became unbuttoned and Cinder accidentally smacked herself in the face.

Ruby quickly took this as her chance to escape and began running throughout the restaurant, including past Weiss as she battled her own SWAT teams.

"What the- hey!" Weiss shouted as she watched a red streak fly by her position. "Where are you going? The guys who need killing are the other way!"

"Sorry, Weiss, I just need to make a quick text!" Ruby replied. "Cinder's here!"

"Wait, she is? Where?!" Weiss said as she stopped firing for a moment. "Hey, don't just leave me there with these-"

Weiss was cut off as the tear gas finally reached her, and she had to take a moment to stop herself from coughing too hard.

* * *

Back on the ritzier, less child-friendly part of the commercial district, both Yang and Blake waited patiently at the end of a very long line that led into Junior's club. Yang was dressed in an expensive white coat with black sleeves, short black tights, black combat boots, and thigh high black stockings. Blake, meanwhile, was just dressed in her normal clothing and busy playing games on her phone.

"Seriously?" Yang asked, looking her friend up and down. "We're having ourselves a night on the town, and you're wearing the same shit you did yesterday?"

"Well, we are technically still at work, you know" Blake pointed out.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you can't take the chance to live a little!" Yang replied. "We're at the club, after all, and I for one plan on having as much fun as I can".

Just then Yang's own phone began buzzing and she took it out of one of her pockets to read the text she just received.

"It's play time!" the message from Ruby read.

" _Now_ we're talking!" Yang smirked before reaching into her coat and pulling out two machine pistols. She then pointed one into the air and began firing, sending the college kids around her running in fear and clearing the line in the process.

"Heh, I always wanted to do that" Yang said as she tossed her empty gun to the side. The Ember bouncer guarding the door quickly pulled his own gun, a revolver, but he was unable to react in time before Yang gunned him down as well.

"Come on!" Yang said excitedly as she tossed Blake the fallen man's gun. "Let's dance!"

The two then opened the front door and stepped inside, revealing a polished, black room with a grey dance floor, a few glass pillars, overhanging spotlights, and a large bar off to the side being manned by none other than Junior himself. It was clear that from the way they were acting that the loud, thumping disco music had managed to drown out the chaos that had just happened outside. So they were still just going about their business dancing, getting drunk, and not-so-subtly exchanging money with men in black and orange suits for blue and green syringes. But, after only a few steps inside, one of the guards finally spotted them.

"Hey, I know you!" one of them shouted as he approached Yang. "I thought we kicked you out of here for go-"

"Kick this!" Yang interrupted right before she punted the man right into an overhead speaker, shorting it out and catching everyone's attention.

"Sorry everyone, but the party is over" Blake announced, spinning the chamber of her gun. "Try not to trample anyone's legs on your way out, though - we still need you all coming back next week, after all".

"Somehow, I knew she wouldn't go down that easily" Junior sighed before taking out his Batzooka and firing a shot towards Yang.

The blonde saw this coming, however, and managed to punch the grenade towards the side and causing it to explode harmlessly on a nearby wall. This sent the dancers into a full-blown panic, however, and they began running towards the front door en masse in a desperate attempt to escape.

"Pft, amateurs" Yang scoffed. "A little explosion never stopped me from rocking before!"

A few of Junior's guards quickly moved in to try and eliminate the Saints, but quickly lost sight of them as they waded into the panicking crowd. One of them almost managed to line up a decent shot on Blake before suddenly receiving a strong punch to the jaw, knocking him out.

"Hope you don't mind if I cut in!" Yang joked as the man's blood ran down her fingers.

Seeing this, Blake took Yang's lead and waded into the crowd before sneaking up on another Ember, tripping him off of his legs, and breaking one with a violent twist.

As the girls kept making their way through the crowd, two Embers armed with sniper rifles appeared on the balcony above the bar and took aim at the Saints right as they reached their next victims. Blake reacted quickly enough to use her Ember as a human shield to block the shot, but Yang took her bullet straight to the aura. This activated her semblance and caused her hair to start glowing with flaming rage, filling her with more than enough strength to lift up the guard next to her and hurl him straight into the sniper that shot her.

The other sniper was taken aback at this, but quickly tried to refocus and get a few more shots off on Blake. By then though, the crowd had finally managed to clear the building, allowing the rest of the Embers the chance to open fire with their sub-machine guns. Yang managed to get a running head start and slid under the first barrage of bullets, spraying her own gun wildly as she did so and managing to shoot two of the goons in front of her before tripping the third with a swipe to the legs.

Blake, meanwhile, went straight for the bar and filled the Ember next to Junior full of holes before he could even get a shot off. Junior tried swinging his Batzooka down at her only for Blake to jump onto his face and use his extreme height to reach the balcony above him. She then used the last rounds in her revolver to finish off the Ember Yang had knocked down before picking up his rifle and taking out the other one.

Standing back up, Blake quickly took aim across the dance floor opened fire at the guards running towards the bar. Yang, meanwhile, took a moment to shoot the guy she had tripped with his own gun before dashing towards the side of the bar. Everyone with a clear shot at her opened fire as she dashed in, shattering rows upon rows of alcohol bottles behind her. Junior quickly saw her coming and braced for one of her powerful punches, only to for her to duck right past him. Surprised, Junior turned around and saw her smiling at the end of the bar with a lit lighter in her hand.

"Anyone up for cocktails?" she asked right before she dropped her lighter and the alcohol-drenched bar caught fire.

Junior let out a pained scream as the flames overtook his body, but his aura managed to take most of the damage and he managed to escape the blaze quickly by jumping out over the bar.

"I always knew I was too hot for this club" Yang smirk as she dashed out onto the dance floor.

Furious, Junior tried firing another grenade at Yang as she ran, only for it to hit one of the dance floor's glass pillars instead, knocking it over onto one of his men in the process and crushing off both his legs.

"Now that's what I call to _left_ feet!" Yang quipped as she reloaded her gun and jumped back into the fray.

While Yang kept fighting on the ground, Blake kept sniping whoever she could, whittling down The Ember's numbers one by one. Unfortunately, due to the the combined cacophony of music and gunfire, she didn't hear the man that was running up behind her until he was two steps away. She tried turning around to try and hit him with the butt of her gun but just ended up being tackled over the balcony to the floor below. She managed to land past the flames emanating from the bar, but was still pinned down by the Ember above and started fighting over the gun.

"I've got you now!" the guard growled as he tightened his grip on the gun.

But, right before Blake lost her grip, the guard saw another Blake run up to him from the side and move to kick him right in the head. He naturally flinched at the sight and moved to protect his face, only for the shadow clone's foot to pass lightly through his body. This gave Blake more than enough opportunity to take the gun and switch their positions, shooting two more Embers as they charged at her before finally knocking the guard out with the butt of gun.

* * *

"And… send!" Ruby said proudly to herself as she stood alone in a broom closet. "Alright, now to get back to work!"

She then ran back outside and found herself instantly tripped by a hard, metallic leg, causing her to end up sliding on her face across the floor into a completely different room.

"Ow…" Ruby moaned in pain as she pried herself off the ground.

When she finally looked up she saw herself in the restaurant's bumper car coom with Mercury in a police uniform following in closely behind her.

"You sure about that, Ms. Rose?" Mercury asked as he put his foot on top of a nearby bumper car. "You know what they say… all work and no play…"

He then kicked the bumper car forward with immense force, sending it hurtling towards Ruby so fast that she just barely had enough time to roll out of the way. She quickly got back onto her feet and tried dashing her way out of the ring only to find her escape blocked by a clear, plastic wall.

"Oh… right…" she groaned with her face pressed up against the window.

Just then, more cops rounded a corner and noticed Ruby standing there, to which she gave them a nervous smile. The two wasted no time opening fire on her with their assault rifles, punching holes in the plastic barrier and forcing Ruby to dodge out of the way.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Mercury asked as he joined in, opening fire with the guns in his feet. "Don't want to play with us?"

"Sorry… but when it comes to bumper cars, I'd rather be the one bumping people off!" Ruby said panickedly as she kept dodging.

"Or really? Well, that's too bad" Mercury said with faux-sympathy. "I'm afraid survival's against the rules today".

"Say, since when did we start getting equipment that could do all that?" a police officer asked as he entered the room behind Mercury, causing him to pause.

"We just ordered them, but we only have a few since they cost an arm and a leg" he explained, turning around. "Well, mostly just legs".

"Hiya!" Ruby shouted as she suddenly plowed into Mercury from the side in a bumper car going at top speed. "Eat. My. Bumper!"

Mercury quickly regained his composure and held on tightly to the hood of the car, unholstering his pistol and taking aim right for Ruby's face.

"Why you little…" he said right before Ruby rammed him into a wall, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to drop his gun.

"Hang on, I've got you!" the cop Mercury was talking to shouted as he rushed over to try and help.

"And I've got you!" Ruby said as she grabbed the man by the throat and rammed his skull straight into the pole of another car, breaking it and causing sparks to fly as he was electrocuted.

"Heh… just like old times…" Ruby giggled quietly to herself as the man's eyes exploded.

Still pinned, Mercury took this opportunity to punch Ruby in the face, forcing her out of the car and giving him the chance to get loose. At the same time, even more police officers ran into the room and opened fire, shooting Ruby in the shoulder and forcing her to cry out in pain. In response, she quickly activated her semblance, picked her two sub-machine guns back up, and dashed out the broken safety wall while Mercury and the cops fired on her the whole way.

Back at the other side of the restaurant, Weiss was still dealing with SWAT teams of her own, dashing from cover to cover as they all failed to get a clear bead on her. That was, until she charged towards a pair of officers in plain view of an entire squad nearby.

"There she is! Take her down!" their leader ordered right before Weiss summoned a glyph near a gas canister and used it to blow white tear gas right into their faces. "What the- I can't see!"

She and her entire squad fired blindly into the area in front of them, unaffected by the tear gas thanks to their masks but completely unable to see as they heard their friends murdered only a few feet away. By the time the gas cleared a few moments later they saw two dead police officers and exactly zero dead Saints.

They could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance but they knew that it was likely just the other suspect fighting back - they knew Weiss was still around there somewhere, and they weren't leaving until they found her.

The squad leader silently motioned her squad to start moving forward and they began silently sweeping the arcade with their weapons ready, careful to spot even the tiniest movement or sound that was out of place.

"Well, hello there boys and girl-" something suddenly said behind them, causing the entire squad to turn around and empty their entire magazines into the source of the noise. By the time the Dust cleared, however, they found that all they had shot was the Grimm animatronic band, leaving them nothing but sparking wrecks.

"Thank goodness" Said Weiss, who was suddenly standing next to the cops. "I swear, if I had to hear that stupid song one more time, I would have done that myself".

The SWAT team quickly turned around and pulled their triggers, but none of their guns seemed to fire.

"No bullet counting? Seriously?" Weiss asked before opening fire herself, killing them all. "Amateurs".

"Yes… nothing like you, of course" Cinder said as she walked onto the scene behind Weiss. "I see that all those math lessons I gave you really paid off in the end… as well as the ones about resisting riot control".

"If you're expecting me to thank you for locking me in a room with tear gas for three hours a day, you've got another thing coming" Weiss replied as she reloaded and turned around.

"Hmph… I stand corrected then" Cinder said as she summoned some orange glyphs. "In spite of my best efforts, you're still as much of a cry baby as the day we met".

Weiss sneered but didn't let her emotions get the better of her this time. Instead, she summoned a glyph of her own by another tear gas canister and sprayed even more white gas into the area, giving her ample opportunity to slip off before Cinder could do anything.

"Well, at least you took my most important advice to heart" Cinder said casually as she dropped her glyphs and began walking. "Never let your opponent know what you're going to do next".

She then took out her pistol from her holster, pointed it behind her, and fired one blind shot.

"Ah!" Weiss cried out in pain as the bullet went straight through the cardboard cutout she was hiding behind.

"But I taught you everything you know" Cinder pointed out as she turned back around. "So you're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to surprise me.

Weiss silently winced through the pain she was feeling and unloaded her pistol through the cutout towards Cinder before dashing out towards the main dining area. Cinder was quick to summon more glyphs and began firing sever fireballs at Weiss as as she ran. Weiss, in turn, slid onto her knees and ended up hidden underneath the tablecloth of one of the diner's many tables, causing Cinder's fireballs to collide with some tables at the far end of the room and spraying cheese and tomato sauce everywhere.

"Disgusting…" Cinder said to herself as she wiped the cheese off her uniform and walked towards where Weiss was hiding.

Seeing an opportunity, Weiss laid down onto her back and summoned a glyph onto the bottom of the table before kicking it and sending the food on top flying onto Cinder, followed shortly by the table itself. Weiss then took her chance to dash back towards the stage with the animatronic band and ran backstage, leaving Cinder alone in the diner.

"I just can't take you anywhere without you misbehaving, can I?" Cinder sighed as she followed after her.

* * *

Back at Junior's dance club, Yang found herself quickly running out of places to hide as Junior and his men closed in around her.

"Woah there, big boys!" she said as a bullet ricocheted off the glass pillar next to her. "I know you all want me, but you don't have to grind against me _this_ hard!"

A moment later and she had to dodge a swing from Junior's Batzooka as well, which hit the pillar with such force that it nearly caved in.

"Okay, that's it!" Yang shouted. "I'd say that we have a bit too many dicks on the dance floor, don't you agree? Well, let's shake things up a little?"

Ignoring the Embers still firing on her, Yang dashed towards the abandoned turntable at the DJ's booth and picked up one of the records there. She then tossed it towards a nearby Ember, decapitating him in the process before bouncing around the room a few times and returning right to Yang's hand. Placing a pair of headphones next to one ear, Yang placed the record right back onto the turntable and scratched it a few times, smiling the whole time.

"Heh, guess the boys were right when they called me a _head turner_ " Yang laughed to herself before the headphones were shot right out of her hands by the approaching Embers.

Yang didn't let herself get cornered, however, and jumped back onto onto the large, mounted speakers on the wall and used that as a platform to jump up onto the the scaffolding holding up all the lights above the dancefloor. She then began kicking and shooting down as many of the spotlights as she could, making sure to time it so they would land right on top of the Embers below her while Blake kept up her own work with her sniper rifle. It was about this time that Junior realized that his number of guards had dwindled quite considerably, and that maybe it was about time to swallow his pride and call Mercury for help.

But, right as he took out his phone and moved to escape, Yang jumped over to the light above him and said "Sorry, little bear, but it's-"

"Lights out" Blake finished as she shot the base of the light with her sniper rifle, causing the light to fall onto his head and knock him out instantly.

"Hey!" Yang whined as she jumped down. "It's one thing to steal another woman's kill, but you do _, not_ steal her puns!"

"Well, I saw the opportunity and took it" Blake replied as she casually finished off the surviving Embers. "You snooze, you lose".

"Yeah, well, I call dibs on the next one then" Yang said right before Junior let out a low moan. "Oh! Nevermind then! Looks like I've still got a second shot at this! Quick, get me a full martini glass and some Taijitu! This is going to be fun!"

"Augh, what happened?" Junior groaned as he woke back up, seeing Yang standing next to him with a needle in one hand and a glass of alcohol in the other.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Yang said happily. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know what happens when you mix these two here drugs, would you?"

"Fuck!" Junior swore as he tried crawling away, but Blake made sure to hold him in place. "Get the hell away from me, you bi-"

Junior was cut off as he had the martini glass shoved into his mouth and Yang dripped a few drops of Taijitu into it. The drink caught fire and turned blue a moment later before Yang forced the drink down his throat. He tried to scream but his throat was too boiled for that and, a few seconds later, his whole body was set alight from the inside-out.

"Heh, I guess some boys just can't hold their liquor" Yang joked triumphantly as Blake let go of Junior and he flopped onto the floor. Yang then opened up Junior's phone and struck a pose with his body in the background. "Hey, Blake, come here! Say 'cheese'!"

* * *

"I think she went this way!" a police officer shouted as he and half a dozen of his heavily armed comrades chased Ruby throughout the halls of Grimm E. Cheese.

"Oh jeez… I need somewhere to hide…" Ruby panted to herself before stopping to peer into a nearby room. "Perfect… just try and catch me now, coppers! Hahahaha!"

"Go go go!" one of the cops shouted as they followed the sound of maniacal laughter into the room, Mercury not far behind them. As soon as they were inside, however, they came to an immediate halt.

"My god…" one of the officers gasped.

All around them were colorful plastic balls, filling the entire playroom up to their knees in bright plastic.

"Well shit…" Mercury swore to himself. "Okay, she has to be in here somewhere. Two of you stay by the door - the rest, stay by me".

He and four officers then began wading into the playroom, their guns drawn as they searched for any sign of movement.

"You see anything yet, Rojo?" one of them asked.

"Nothing yet, Grun" his friend replied. "How about you, Ao?"

There was no reply.

"Ao?"

The group turned to their left and saw that the fifth member was no longer there anymore.

"Shit!" Grun panicked. "Where'd he go?"

This question was met by the soft sound of giggling coming from seemingly everywhere.

"I-I think I see something!" Rojo shouted before firing wildly into the balls in front of him. A second later and he found himself suddenly tripped before being pulled deep into the ball pit behind him, screaming as loud as he could.

"Shit, Rojo!" swore Grun. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Hey! Don't break from the group!" Mercury ordered, but it was too late; he had already made a break for the door only to be tripped and disappear into the balls as well. The remaining officers began to panic as well, firing wildly around the room in the vain hope of possibly hitting her.

"Alright, I think I've seen enough" Mercury said with an eyeroll as he took out several grenades from his uniform. "Don't worry, I promise to tell your spouses you all said something cool before you died".

He then pulled the pins on the grenades dropped them to the ground, and used the guns in his boots lets to jet himself out the door before they exploded. When they finally did go off, they exploded with such force that Ruby - and what was left of the cops - were smashed right through the glass walls of the playroom, leaving her in a glass and plastic-covered heap on the floor.

"I… think I'be had enough playtime for one day…" Ruby whimpered as she shakily got up on her feet. "See you… some other time…"

"Not so fas-" Mercury began to say as Ruby ran off only to be interrupted by a text on his phone. "Oh god damn it…" he groaned as he saw what it was.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the restaurant, Cinder stepped over some spare animatronic parts as she wandered around backstage of the Grimm E. Cheese Band, still hunting Weiss.

"Oh, I get it!" Cinder said to the area around her. "This is about your birthdays, isn't it? Instead of a new book or class, you would have preferred to come someplace like here, right? I'm so sorry; I promise to treat you exactly how you deserve from now on".

An animatronic Beowolf head then started singing right next to her, but Cinder simply ignored it and instead punched straight through the backdrop next to her and nailed Weiss right in the head.

"Same trick twice?" Cinder asked in disbelief. "So disappointing…"

Weiss recovered from the hit as quickly as she could and fired on a nearby rope, causing a sandbag to drop and carry her up to the catwalks above her as she held onto another rope. Cinder followed right behind her, though, doing a few acrobatics across some stage equipment to end up right across from Weiss. She quickly used a glyph to launch another fireball, but Weiss managed to block it with one of her own. The force of the blast was still enough to knock her off her feet, however, and found herself having to roll out of the way as Cinder tried to crush her throat with her high heels. In desperation, Weiss tried shooting Cinder again with her pistol only to have it kicked right out of her hand.

"As much as I'd love to keep playing these games, I think it's finally time we ended this" Cinder said as she raised her hand to summon another glyph. "Say 'hi' to your dear old dad for me, okay?"

"Why don't you?" Weiss asked back defiantly before raising her foot behind Cinder, summoning a glyph beneath it, and slamming her foot down onto the catwalk. Cinder tumbled down to the lower level a second later while Weiss managed to stay on top, giving her time to hobble her way to the nearby fire exit and burst through.

Bullets collided with the building behind her as the cops outside opened fire but, before she could go back inside to take cover, Ruby drove up underneath her in Weisses car and opened the driver's side door.

"Hop in!" Ruby shouted up to her.

Weiss quickly jumped down to the car and immediately pushed Ruby out of the way, taking control of the wheel.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Ruby whined as Weiss shifted gear.

"Just because you saved me doesn't mean you get to drive my car!" Weiss snapped back.

"Aw, come on!" Ruby begged as Weiss floored the gas pedal. "I didn't even have time to play one of the racing games while I was there!"

"Well then, maybe next time you won't spend an hour wasting Lien on that stupid claw game!"

"But Weiss, I was soooo close to winning!" Ruby groaned over the sound of bullets hitting the windshield.

* * *

"My my, how the Cinder has fallen…" Mercury joked as he looked down at his fallen boss.

"Not in the mood, Mercury" Cinder replied dryly as she lifted herself up.

"Really now?" Mercury asked. "Well, if you're already in a bad mood, I guess there's no harm in showing you this".

He then turned his phone around and showed it to Cinder, displaying a picture of Yang and Blake smiling and giving peace signs with their fingers next to Junior's charred, dead body. The caption underneath it read "Back from the dead! Don't worry, we found the perfect volunteer to hold our graves for us!"

"Hmm… I think it's about time we finally rethought our strategy for defeating these women" Cinder scowled. "Clearly, we have been underestimating them".

"That's one way to put it" Mercury replied. "But, on the bright side, at least disco is finally dead for good".

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the new chapter! Sorry it took so long!
> 
> Chapter beta-read by Mr. Stark357


	28. Chapter 28

It was night above Vale's capital, completely black except for the orange lights of the skyscrapers in the distance, which lit up the horizon like a burning sunset. The area between Vale and Beacon was just as desolate as usual, however, far above that empty space, a jet black helicopter cut through the night sky like a hot knife through an endless ocean. The blades of the helicopter only made the slightest bit of noise as it tore its way through to its destination, ensuring that no one noticed it before it reached its destination. Inside, Emerald sat in the passenger cabin watching a video on her Scroll brand phone to pass the time.

"No one knows yet why the senator thought the grenade was an apple, but video of his untimely demise has already gone viral" a newscaster announced on the screen. "Sources say that the reporter who managed to capture the famous shot plans on submitting it to Vale's Funniest Home Videos, but it is expected to be rejected due to their recent ban on explosive related videos".

"My my, just as prideful as ever, I see" Cinder said as she sauntered into the cabin from the cockpit.

"What can I say? It's one of the perks of the job" Emerald replied as she switched off her phone.

"Only when you succeed, that is" Cinder pointed out. "Need I remind you that pride always goes before the fall?"

"And you should know that you sound like a fortune cookie when you talk like that" Emerald countered.

"That doesn't make it any less true" Cinder said as she sat down next to Emerald and handed her a folder. "I would hope that this woman's face has become so familiar to you that you could draw it blindfolded, but here it is again in case you needed a reminder".

Inside, Emerald found Ruby's latest mugshot, which featured her stretching her lips apart and sticking her tongue out at the camera.

"We are running out of chances, after all" Cinder continued. "Despite our best efforts to end this war quickly, The Saints keep holding on. We've already lost so much on this venture already, and if this continues for much longer, we might lose something we might not be able to replace. If you eliminate her, we can finally have the edge in this war again. Any other Saints you kill in the process will merely be icing on the cake".

"No pressure though, right?" Emerald laughed as she closed the folder again.

"Right" Cinder replied as she stood up and opened the door on the side of the helicopter. "I believe this is your stop".

"Why thank you, my lady" Emerald replied with a bow before making her way towards the cool night air.

"I will be in my 'office' in case The Saints try anything tonight, but your target should be here the entire night" Cinder explained as air from the blades blew over her body.

"Really? On a Friday night?" Emerald asked incredulously. "Are you sure she won't be out partying or anything?"

"You forget: Friday night also means new cartoons" Cinder replied.

"Ah, yes, of course" Emerald said as she rolled her eyes. "Please, forgive my ignorance".

She then moved to jump out of the helicopter but was stopped by Cinder's hand on her arm at the last second.

"Remember not to strain yourself too much" the dark-haired woman warned. "Your semblance only works on one or two people at a time: any more than that is dangerous".

"Thanks for the advice, but if anyone were to know my semblance, I'm pretty sure it would be me" Emerald replied as she brushed Cinder's hand away.

"Just making sure that you don't make any silly mistakes while you're down there" Cinder smiled back. "Now, Ms. Prideful… fall".

With that, Cinder pushed her green assassin out of the helicopter and Emerald dove into the inky black night, the cool night air zipping past her face as she hurtled toward the ground. It normally would have been very difficult to judge the distance to the ground so late at night but, ever since the attack on Junior's club, the place had been lit up as bright as a firework almost every night, and was somehow even louder. Because of that, Emerald could make out almost every inch of the place even from as far away as she was. As she finally approached her target, Emerald couldn't help but smile as she imagined making that firework metaphor a whole lot more literal by the end of the night.

Emerald finally opened her small, green parachute thirty feet or so away from the ruins of Beacon's main tower, which managed to slow her descent to just below breakneck speed. This meant that she still had to use a good chunk of her aura to finish breaking her fall, but she didn't mind that in slightest since she didn't plan on taking any more hits for the rest of the night.

Once she was safely on the ground, Emerald packed her parachute back up as she toured around what used to be the headmaster's office, admiring all the broken clocks and gears that were strewn about the place like so much useless litter.

"I gotta say, the whole 'dilapidated' look really suits this place" Emerald commented to herself. "They really should try it out again".

She then walked over to the remains of the elevator and pried the doors to the shaft open. After judging the distance to the bottom for a few moments, she stepped into the shaft and immediately opened up her chute, allowing her to land relatively softly on top of the stuck elevator at the bottom of the shaft. Then, she reached up to the closest set of doors and pried them open a little - just enough to let her peek through and see what was outside.

"Come on, Yang!" she heard a familiar voice whine. "Hurry up! We're going to miss out on Pumpkin Pete's Playtime Powerhour!"

This was followed by a flash of yellow in front of the elevator shaft, followed by someone saying "Sorry, Rubes, but I'm going to be distracted tonight by four different, much more entertaining P's. Besides, it's not like we have to watch it tonight. That's what recording is for!"

"You know that's not as fun!" Ruby replied. "Are you sure you can't watch it with me?"

"I'm afraid my hands are tied, Ruby" Yang answered. "Literally, if we decide to get _really_ kinky".

Emerald could practically hear Ruby's cheeks puff up in rage as she stomped her foot down and said "Fine! But I won't save you any cereal! I'm going to eat it all myself!"

"You're just going to throw up again, you know!" Yang pointed out.

"It'll be worth it!" Ruby shouted back before storming off.

Yang shook her head quietly before finally leaving the lobby as well, leaving Emerald completely alone and free to climb out of the elevator shaft unnoticed. She then glanced down the hallway Ruby and her sister left and saw the back of Yang's head right as she shut the door at the end of the hall behind her. The hallway itself was almost completely barren and unguarded, with the exception of an oddly placed white mannequin hanging out in front of the door of an old classroom.

"These girls are making this way too easy" Emerald said quietly as she approached the cloth dummy. "Still, what the heck is this thing? Are they so desperate for new blood that they're accepting recruits from the department store?"

She then tapped the dummy on the chest and it fell over onto the ground, falling to pieces instantly.

"Heh, still a better fighter than most of their guys" Emerald laughed.

Then, right before she was about to leave, the door to the classroom she was standing in front of began to creak open and Emerald froze in place. Blake walked out of the classroom a second later and saw a lone mannequin standing alone in the middle of the hallway.

"There you are! I was wondering where I put that spare" Blake said as she picked the dummy up and carried it back into the classroom. "Huh… this one is a little heavier than the other ones… oh well. I guess it won't matter in a few minutes anyway".

"I'm not heavy! You're just weak!" the 'dummy' thought angrily in Blake's arms. "You're lucky that I don't want to risk blowing my cover yet, or you would definitely be the first to go!"

Unable to hear Emerald's angry thoughts, Blake brought the 'dummy' to the front of the classroom and placed it alongside a row of other dummies before returning to the back and picking up an assault rifle up off a nearby desk.

"Alright, let's get started" she said as she loaded a magazine into the gun.

"Wait… what is she doing?!" Emerald thought panickingly as Blake took aim at the dummy at the other end of the row and pulled the trigger. A series of deafening booms then filled the classroom as a barrage of bullets tore through Blake's target, blowing it's head right off and leaving a gaping hole in its chest.

"Well, the sight seems to be working, as well as the high powered Dust rounds" Blake said as she put the assault rifle down. "Now let's try the revolver…"

"Okay, Emerald, don't panic" the frightened assassin thought to herself. "You can still get out of this without being seen or blown to bits. You just need to wait for an opportunity".

It was at that point that yet another shot rang out in the classroom and the next dummy in line was completely blown to bits.

"Ouch! That one's _too_ powerful!" Blake moaned as she shook out her right wrist. "Kickback nearly took my hand off! Better try something a little softer next".

She then reached for a small squirt gun and Emerald finally felt herself relax a little.

"Oh, thank goodness" Emerald thought to herself as she let out a silent sigh. "Something less dangerous".

Blake took a moment to aim at the dummy next to Emerald before pulling the trigger and unleashing a stream of green fluid onto it. Emerald didn't even bother to look at the results until she noticed a strange sizzling noise coming from it's direction. Curious, Emerald glanced over and her eyes instantly widened in horror as she watched the dummy dissolve into a bubbling puddle on the floor. The goo puddle kept on bubbling, however, and soon sank into the floor and left a person-sized hole in the ground as the acid ate its way downwards.

"Whoops" said Blake. "I hope no one's in the basement right now.

A blood-curtling scream emerged from the hole a second later.

"Eh, I'm sure he's fine" Blake said as she tossed the squirt gun to the side. "Now for something a little more low-tech".

Emerald had only a second to wonder what Blake meant before a throwing knife embedded itself into the chalkboard next to her head, causing Emerald's heart to skip a beat as a sliced strand of heir hair gently drifted towards the ground.

"Damn! That revolver must have thrown off my aim" Blake swore quietly before picking up a rocket launcher from the floor and aiming it directly towards Emerald's head. "Good thing accuracy doesn't matter much with these things".

Emerald could do nothing but stare in abject terror as Blake's finger slowly pressed down on the RPG's trigger but, right before the rocket launched, she was interrupted by the door to the classroom suddenly slamming open. Confused, both, Emerald and Blake turned towards the door and saw Weiss standing angrily in the doorway.

"I knew it!" Weiss huffed as she stormed into the room. "I knew one of you assholes stole my dummies! Although, I must admit that you were pretty low on my suspect list".

"What? I was just using them for target practice" Blake replied, unsure why Weiss was acting so angry. "That's why you bought them, right?"

Emerald, meanwhile, strained under the pressure as she tried to maintain the her illusion for both women, but she didn't mind too much since it was at least better than fourth degree burns.

"No, it wasn't!" Weiss replied angrily to Blake. "I bought them to help me sew my new dresses! The best fashion malls are in neighborhoods still under Ember control, and it's been risky to go shopping there lately".

"Oh, right…" Blake said, her eyes lighting up with embarrassment. "Uh, you can have them back now if you want".

"Thanks for the generosity, but I think I'll take just take the one that's still standing if you don't mind" Weiss said dryly before walking up to Emerald and picking her up by the waist.

She then carried the 'dummy' up to the dormitories while Emerald sweated nervously in her arms whenever they came close to groups of other Saints. Fortunately for her, however, they were all either far too drunk or too distracted to notice anything out of the ordinary, so she made it past them unnoticed. Emerald wished that Weiss was their level of inebriated, though, since that would have made getting a blade into position against her throat a hell of a lot easier.

Eventually they arrived back at Weiss's room and she plopped her dummy/Emerald right in the middle of room. She then turned around and started digging through one of her many large white dressers, which finally gave Emerald the chance to ready her wristband daggers and begin carefully sneaking up behind her. She was right about to drive a blade into Weiss's back when the former heiress suddenly turned around and slammed a large white dress onto Emerald's body, which ended up covering her wristbands in the process.

"There we are!" Weiss said as she straightened out the dress. "Now, be a good dummy and hold still while I put on the finishing touches…"

Emerald rolled her eyes but did as she was told regardless. After all, her pride was the one thing she could afford to have wounded that day.

"Alright, that's one side done" Weiss said as she stored one of her spare needles in the dummy's exposed thigh. "Now for the other side…"

She then spent a few moments sewing around the other leg before storing both her needles in the other thigh, allowing her to take out two new ones with a new spool of thread and move up to the upper part of the dress.

"Just a few more seconds and… perfect!" Weiss announced as she finished up and stored her last two needles in the dummy's exposed chest. She then put her spools of thread back into her sewing box before finally retrieving the needles and taking the dress off her makeshift model.

"Now for your next job…" Weiss said as she turned towards the dresser once again.

Emerald grit her teeth as she tried to avoid crying and prepared her arm blade once again. She tried walking forward to get in range but stumbled a little from the pain, which gave Weiss just enough time to turn around and put a large, garish sweater onto Emerald's upper body. That sweater was soon followed by another, and another, and another…"

"There we are!" Weiss said proudly as she forced the last sweater onto the dummy. "If there's one thing I don't miss about my family, it's their terrible holiday gifts. Hold these for me until I get back from downstairs. I have a special plan for these…"

Weiss then walked out of the room and closed her door just in time for Emerald to fall onto her back from the sheer weight of the sweaters crushing her chest. She didn't even bother trying to stand back up and simply slipped herself out of the clothes, muttering to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Always go for invisible if you get the chance! Always!"

Free of her wooly prison, Emerald made her way to the door and peeked outside to try and reacquire her target.

"Last chance to watch Pumpkin Pete's with me, Yang!" she heard Ruby shout from the left side of the hall.

"Sorry, but like I said before, I've got a 'nap' to take!" Yang replied from the right side of the hall.

"Fine! I hope you sleep yourself tired then!" Ruby shouted back, which was followed promptly by a loud door slam.

Emerald then carefully opened the door the rest of the way and, after making sure the coast was clear, she began making her way towards Ruby's room. However, right before she made it to the redhead's door, Emerald realized something very important: if she went for Ruby now, there was a good chance she could end up alerting the entire compound even if she succeeded. But the great thing about sleeping targets was that they don't usually get the chance to scream until it was far too late. Turning back around, Emerald decided that Ms. Rose could wait for a few more minutes before slipping quietly into Yang's room. There, she found the place to be a complete mess with clothes, gun shells, and pizza boxes strewn everywhere, but it was otherwise completely empty. The light emanating from underneath the bathroom door let Emerald know that Yang was still freshening up before bed, allowing Emerald to take out one of her longer knives and slip unnoticed under Yang's bed.

"Finally, something easy" Emerald said smugly to herself as she got into position. "Though, I may need a moment to find the exact spot to stab - she's got a weirdly big bed for one person".

After waiting patiently for a few more minutes, Emerald heard the bathroom door open and Yang step out of it.

"Ahh, that's better!" she heard Yang say as she stretched out out her body. "Now, time to go get to bed!"

The blonde then dashed towards her mattress and launched herself towards it, landing on it with a thud that nearly caused the bedsprings underneath to smack emerald in the face. The assassin was too delighted to care, however, and simply got her knife ready underneath Yang's back.

"That's right, go to sleep, my little bimbo…" Emerald thought to herself. "And never… wake… up!"

"Alright boys, come on in!" Yang suddenly shouted.

"Wait… boys?!" Emerald thought worriedly as she stopped her knife at the last second.

This was followed by the sound of a bunch of new people entering the room and climbing onto the bed. The added weight caused the bedsprings above Emerald to press down even further, to the point there they were pressing down on top of her face and pinning her to the floor.

"Alright, boys, I hope you brought the condiments~" Yang said sultrily, which was met by several cheers of affirmation.

"Ew… that's something I never needed to hear" Emerald thought to herself.

She then heard several gross squishing noises above her that was followed shortly by moanin and rhythmic thrusting that caused the bed springs to smack Emerald's face over and over again.

"Oh fuck!" Emerald swore in her head. "I can smell her sweaty ass from here!"

She tried her best to get her knife ready to stab once again but she ultimately didn't go through with it and put the knife back down.

"Dammit! I don't know where she is, and I can't afford to stab the wrong one!" she thought angrily to herself. "Although, killing them all is quite tempting at this point…"

Putting her murderous urges behind her for the moment, Emerald managed to squeeze her way out from under the three or five people fucking above her and made it to the edge of the bed. There, she glanced out towards the exit and saw that the bedroom door was still open.

"Augh! You didn't even bother to close the door!?" Emerald thought in disgusted horror. "You really _are_ a bimbo!"

She then quietly crawled her way out from underneath the bed, safe in the knowledge that the people on top were far too distracted to even glance in her direction. She still made sure to make it to the hallway as fast as she could, however, since she didn't want to risk looking at the castup covered disaster that she knew lay behind her.

Once she was sure she was safe and alone in the hallway, Emerald let out a long sigh before finally making her way back towards Ruby's room.

"That's it, no more distractions!" she told herself in her head. "It's time I ended this once and for all!"

Once at Ruby's room, Emerald opened the door just a crack and saw the infamous gang leader sitting in front of her wide-screen TV in her pink bunny pajamas and a pirate hat and eating out of a massive cereal bowl while colorful images flashed across the screen in front of her. Most importantly to Emerald, however, Ruby was also completely alone.

"Alright, let's keep this one simple" Emerald said as she took her knife back out and slowly pushed the door open, taking care to make herself invisible from Ruby's perspective as she quietly stepped inside. She then flipped the knife around in her hand and prepared to thrust it down into Ruby's back when, suddenly, she was blinded as the TV screen abruptly flashed red.

"Are you ready kids!?" an annoying cartoon voice shouted, causing Ruby to jump up and hit Emerald in the chin, sending the assassin stumbling backwards.

"Aye aye, captain!" Ruby shouted at the screen.

"I can't hear you!" the screen shouted again.

"Aye aye, captain!" Ruby shouted even louder as she tossed what was left of her cereal into Emerald's face.

"Alright, kiddos! It's time for the Captain Crush show!" the TV announcer happily proclaimed. "The last we left our intrepid hero, she was in the middle of a sword fight with the deadly spider pirate Serket, who fights with eight swords… because she's a spider!"

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Ruby said excitedly as she took out her toy sword. "I can't wait to see how this fight turns out!"

"Yar-har! You may think you're winning now, Serket, but I know I've got ye on yer last four-or-so sea legs!" a new voice said from the TV.

"Oh, that's it… no more Ms. Nice Assassin" Emerald grumbled as she took out a second knife and lunged herself at Ruby's back.

Ruby, however, simply rolled out of the way just like her hero onscreen, so Emerald just ended up impaling the ground.

"Gerr…" Emerald growled as she got up and rushed over towards Ruby, swinging her knives while a character on the TV screen shouted "Take that! And that! And that!"

Ruby dodged out of the way every time, however, mimicking the movements of Captain Crush perfectly much to Emerald's bafflement and frustration. The last straw for Emerald came when Ruby suddenly shouted "Hiya" and jabbed her toy sword forward and jabbed Emerald right in the eye.

"Why you little…" Emerald grumbled before breaking out in a sprint towards Ruby, not even caring if she got caught anymore as she swung her knives wildly through the air.

Ruby rolled out of the way in the nick of time once more, causing Emerald to miss her target completely. Emerald's momentum was too high for her to stop immediately, though, so she ended up stumbling all the way to Ruby's open window and fell right out of it.

"Aaaaah!" she screamed wildly as she fell headfirst into a dumpster below. She tried desperately to think of some way she might be able to break her fall before hit the ground, but that thought was quickly cut short as she hit the ground and everything went black.

* * *

Emerald woke back up about half an hour later at the bottom of a heap of trash and her number of dead targets still squarely at zero. Sighing, she dug herself out of the dumpster, took out her cell phone, and dialed a number.

"Hey, Cinder? Can I get a pickup at Beacon?" she said into the phone. "Things didn't exactly go as planned…"

She then heard some hacking and wheezing noises above her before suddenly being covered in a thick orange slurry that rained from above.

"I warned you about all that cereal!" she heard Yang shout somewhere in the school.

"... things _really_ didn't go as planned" Emerald continued. "We're going to have to do something else to deal with The Saints".

"How… disappointing" Cinder replied. "I will see you back at the mansion soon".

Emerald then hung up and put away her phone before moving to climb out of the dumpster. Right when she was about to lift her first leg out, however, she heard some people walking towards her around a nearby corner and so she ducked back inside to avoid being seen. A few seconds later,Weiss and Blake both emerged from around the building, each of them holding a massive bundle of sweaters.

"Alright, Blake, right this way! And… heave!" Weiss instructed as they tossed all the sweaters into the dumpster. "About time I finally got rid of these things".

"If you hated them so much, then why did you keep them for so long?" Blake asked curiously.

"Eh, I used to think they had some kind of sentimental value" Weiss replied as she poured oil on top of the sweaters. "But then I realized that they weren't important to me then, so they shouldn't be important to me now".

"So, you've been thinking about the past a lot lately, huh?" asked Blake.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Weiss said coldly as she lit a match and tossed it into the dumpster.

Blake let out a long, tired sigh as Weiss walked away but followed behind her anways. Emerald took the moment to sigh as well, though hers was muffled by old pizza boxes.

"Not even being ignored by these guys is easy…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by Mr. Stark357


	29. Chapter 29

By the time the orange sun rose over Beacon the next morning, there was not so much as a trace of Emerald's invisible shadow left in the school. In fact, to the Saints who lived there, it was almost as if the assassin was never there at all - much to Emerald's joy and annoyance.

That didn't mean that things were necessarily peaceful, of course.

"Yang!" Weiss shouted as she barged into Yang's room, where the blonde was still soaking wet after a recent shower "Where's Ruby?! She was supposed to meet with me and Blake an hour ago!"

"She's still in her room, duh" Yang replied before biting down hard on her thumb, which caused all the water in her hair to fly off in a puff of steam. "She's still neck-deep in that sugar coma she put herself in last night".

"Augh, you're right" Weiss grumbled in reply as she walked back out. "I shouldn't have expected any better".

Weiss promptly made her way over to the young crime lord's room and began pounding on the door.

"Wake up, you overstuffed ham!" Weiss shouted through the door. "Get up and act like a fucking gangster for once in your life!"

"Yeah, sure… I'll be out in a minute" she heard Ruby say tiredly on the other side. "Just as soon as my tummy stops doing backflips".

"Augh, you're completely worthless!" Weiss groaned as she gripped the bridge of her nose and Blake walked by behind her.

"Such a shame" Blake commented casually as she strolled past. "And here I was hoping to see all those horses today".

"Horsies!? Why didn't you say so!?" Ruby shouted as the door to her bedroom suddenly flew open and slammed Weiss into the wall. "Come on, slow poke! We've got work to do".

"One of these days…" Weiss grumbled to herself as the door slowly swung off her body and her eyebrows twitched subtly.

"You'll lighten up?" Yang asked jokingly as she walked past.

Eventually, Weiss was able to pry herself off the wall and walked down to the cafeteria to find Ruby jumping up and down excitedly as Blake typed away on her computer nearby.

"Did someone bring up horses?" Yang asked as her eyes followed her bouncing sister.

"You can tell?" asked Weiss.

"Oh yeah, I can tell" Yang said knowingly. "They're not as close to her heart as guns are, of course but the little girl in her heart still has a soft spot for them".

"In her heart?" Weiss asked sarcastically. "Are you sure you don't mean 'in her entire being'?"

"Alright, here we are" Blake interrupted as she turned her computer around and displayed a picture of a large dirt racetrack. "The world famous Rust Racetrack, home to the Vale World Cup".

"Say… I remember that race" Weiss said curiously as she stared at the screen.

"Oh? So you had your own little pony phase when you were younger too?" Yank asked in surprise.

"As if" Weiss scoffed. "My father used to own it and he dragged me to that thing every year so he could make business deals and take photos with 'important' people. I always hated it... so much buildup for such a short race".

"Well, since the end of the Schnee Dust Company, the racetrack and the race have come under the ownership of none other than our favorite murder targets" Blake explained before clicking her mouse and bringing up a picture of Mercury sitting in the track's announcer's box. Weiss couldn't quite tell if if he was as bored as he was annoyed of if he was so annoyed that he was actually getting bored of it.

"Figures that they'd get their hands on it…" Weiss said contemptuously.

"Wait, isn't that place completely legal?" Ruby asked curiously. "I mean, I love horsies and all, but we're a gang! Shouldn't we be concerned with more badass crime stuff? I mean, unless we're going to sell the horsies drugs or something… I'm not sure how I'd feel about that".

"Ruby's got a point" added Yang. "Who cares if they own this racetrack? It's not like we can run it with us being public enemies numbers one through four".

"Well, even if the gambling there is legal, it is still a major source of income for the Embers, and more money for them equals more people we have to kill" Blake replied. "Secondly, while it might _look_ legit, there's actually quite a lot of dirty business going on behind the scenes, mainly rigging the races so they can squeeze even more Lien out of that race, and believe me when I say a _lot_ of money gets funneled into that track from poor gambler's pockets".

"Ah, so that's why there's always been a big upset these last few races" Yang said in realization. "So, what kind of horseplay do they use to make sure things go the way they want them too?"

"Oh, you know, the usual" Blake explained casually. "Drugging jockeys, drugging horses, giving out Dust infused horse shoes, giving horses last minute tours to the glue factory and replacing them with other horses, that kind of thing".

"Glue factory?" Ruby asked, confused. "Why would a horsie want to go somewhere like that? Do they like machines or something?"

There was an audible pause as Ruby's friends stared back at her silently for a few seconds.

"Uh, Ruby, did you not know that they-" Blake began to say before being cut off by a cough from Yang.

"Sooo, Blake, what's the plan to take this place down?" Yang asked hastily.

"It's quite simple, actually" said Blake. "Step one is to get to Mercury and take him out by any means necessary. Step two is to disrupt the race and stop them from making money there ever again".

"Now that's my kind of plan!" Yang said, pumping her fists in the air. "Hell, if we cause enough trouble during part one, part two will practically take care of itself!"

"Actually, it would be best if we… restrained ourselves until we're certain Mercury is dead" Blake countered. "Until then, no guns, no Dust, and no explosions".

"Augh, there's always a twist!" groaned Yang. "Fine, but once he's gone, I plan on seeing how far a thoroughbred can kick an Ember's nuts off!"

"Aw, but I don't want to put any horsies in danger!" Ruby whined.

"Says the girl who feeds people to her pet shark" Weiss quipped sarcastically.

"Hey, that's different!" Ruby countered. "They're not cute!"

"Whatever…" Weiss replied as she rolled her eyes and loaded her guns. "Let's just get this over with".

"Off to the races already?" asked Yang. "You seem oftly eager to blow up a place your family used to own".

"Just because it belonged to my dad doesn't make it sacred" Weiss explained bitterly. "My past doesn't own me".

"Really?" Blake asked suspiciously. "Is that why you've been burning all your old stuff?"

"You have!?" Ruby gasped suddenly. "Does that mean you destroyed those old coloring books and building blocks? But I wanted to try those!"

"Yeah, and wasn't the whole reason you joined this gang to go on a murderous rampage on the guys who offed your family?" asked Yang. "Kinda weird that you can't give a shit about them now?"

"And since when did you give a shit about my feelings?" Weiss asked dryly.

"Good point- I don't!" Yang conceded. "Let's hit it!"

"Hang on guys, we still don't have a solid plan yet!" Ruby interrupted.

"So? We'll just improvise like we always do!" Yang replied.

"Well, as our leader, I say we need to have a solid battle plan before rushing towards our possible doom" Ruby said as she placed a hand seriously over her chest. "And I can't think of a better way to illustrate our plan than by using… arts and crafts!"

"Oh, god damn it!" Weiss swore as Ruby took out some scissors, construction paper, and glue from behind her back.

"You had that stuff on you this whole time?" Blake asked curiously.

"Of course!" Ruby replied as she began passing out all the materials. "A true leader is prepared for any situation - especially if it involves art!"

"Well, I guess this horse glue is appropriate, if nothing else" Blake commented as she picked up a bottle of the stuff.

"Oh yeah, they do have little horses on them, don't they!" Ruby suddenly realized. "Did a horse win a contest to be their mascot while on a tour or something?"

"Uh, maybe" Yang nervously answered. "Hey, toss me some brown paper, Weiss".

"Get it yourself" Weiss answered as she started cutting.

* * *

A few hours later and people began to pour into the stands of the Rust Racetrack as the midday sun shined brightly overhead. All around the stadium, people were busy finding their seats, eating confections, and betting away their life savings at the many gambling booths as a female announcer spoke through the loudspeaker overhead.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the twenty fifth annual Vale World Cup!" a woman with purple hair and a fancy blue suit said from a booth suspended above the crowd and attached to the stadium's western ceiling. "It's been one hell of an exciting season, especially with the sudden exit of the betting favorite, 'Mistralian Emperor', from the race last night".

"Well, accidents happen, Aubergine" Mercury said from the seat next to her. "Quite a shame, though - you'd think that a horse so fast would have a better time outrunning all those rabid dogs".

"You're telling me!" Aubergine laughed in reply. "But I'm sure it will still be an exciting race nonetheless! Only a few minutes until the starting shot, and I am so far on the edge of my seat that I'm practically floating!"

"So am I, Aubergine" Mercury said as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk in front of him. "So am I".

Far on the other side of the stadium, Weiss stared at the Ember lieutenant through a pair of binoculars, her eyes intently fixed on him as if he might disappear at any moment.

"There he is - a sitting Nevermore" Weiss said as Blake sat down next to her. "How much do you want to bet Ruby finds a way to screw this up?"

"Oh come on, you've got to have at least a little faith in her" Blake argued.

"She lost all my faith the minute she accidentally glued that grenade to her forehead earlier" Weiss countered. "Are the bombs in place?"

"Yes, they are" Blake replied, nodding.

"Good" Weiss said as she put her binoculars away. "It's about time something exciting finally happened in this place".

"Yeah, I guess so…" said Blake, pausing for a few long moments before finally asking "You have mixed feelings about your family, don't you?"

"Is this really the best time to bring up something like this?" scoffed Weiss.

"Well, I can't think of a better time" Blake replied, crossing her legs.

"Well… I'm pretty sure I loved my family… in the same way I'm pretty sure they loved me back" Weiss replied as she brought the binoculars back up to her face.

"Ah, so it was one of those situations" Blake said knowingly. "They weren't your only family, though, were they?"

"Sorry, couldn't hear you over the sound of all that horse shit" Weiss said back, venom dripping from her voice.

Back on the other side of the stadium, Ruby was inside a janitor's closet, busy trying to secure a silencer on top of one of her twin machine guns, though it didn't seem to really fit properly.

"Darn it, how do these things work?" Ruby swore frustratedly. "As if silencers weren't bad enough already, quieting my poor babies' beautiful songs!"

Ruby's angry whispers were suddenly interrupted as someone opened the door and light flooded the tiny room.

"Hey, what are you doing-wha, whoa!" the Ember guard said as Ruby pulled him into the room and punched him unconscious.

She quickly buried the man underneath a pile of mops and stepped out into the hallway just in time to get a text from Yang that read "How's the stealth mission going, sis?"

"Super dooper!" Rang replied, her fingers moving along the keypad at the speed of sound. "The only eyes that have seen me are black now".

"Good, but try to save some of those knuckle sandwiches for Mercury. I'm sure he's pretty hungry for some right now" Yang texted back. "And remember, I'm in the crowd below if you need any help".

"Got it" Ruby replied before tossing her silencer to the side and heading towards the announcer's booth.

Once she saw the Embers guarding the door to the announcer's booth, Ruby just used her semblance to knock them both out before either of them could notice her. Once they were taken care of, she slowed back down and carefully opened the door into the booth.

"Alright, the jockeys are all at the starting gate and roaring to go!" Aubergine announced, oblivious to the girl sneaking up behind her. "Just a few more seconds now!"

Ruby ignored the woman and took careful aim behind Mercury's bored skull, completely ready to pull the trigger when she suddenly taken off guard by a loud gunshot from outside.

"And they're off!" Aubergine shouted excitedly as the race started down below and Ruby flinched in surprise. Hearing Ruby's gasp, Mercury quickly turned around and saw Ruby before she could line up another shot. He wasted no time in tackling the young gang leader to the ground, knocking both the guns out of her hands in the process.

"It looks like the Silver Bullet has taken an early lead, but only just barely!" Aubergine commentated as Mercury took out a pocket knife and tried to stab Ruby through the heart with it. The young redhead had a quick response time, though, and managed to pick one of her guns back up and used it to knock the knife out of his hands.

"Oh, but the famous Red Rocket is starting to catch up!" Aubergine said as Ruby took aim, only for Mercury to forcefully pull the gun out of her hands. He tried to quickly bring his fists back down onto Ruby's face, but she quickly countered him by taking out a pair of scissors and stabbing him right in the side, scratching his aura painfully in the process. This gave Ruby the chance to roll out from underneath Mercury's body and start choking him from behind.

"Red Rocket is starting to come up from the rear now…" Aubergine said right before Mercury caught Ruby's wrist in his hand and flipped her back in front of him. "But the Silver Bullet pulls out ahead even further! The race just started, but it looks like it might be over already!"

As Ruby continued struggling with Mercury, Weiss looked at them from the other side of the racetrack and couldn't help but let out a long disappointed sigh.

"Augh, of course!" Weiss groaned to herself.

"You know, we could have just had me take him out instead" Blake pointed out.

"And leave her alone with the explosives?" Wiss asked as she took out a red button out from her purse. "As if".

Weiss quickly pressed down on the button and the racetrack was shook by several large explosions from behind the stadium, causing Mercury to trip and fall right when he was about to connect his boot into Ruby's face. The cheering crowd instantly went silent and the jockeys in the race quickly came to a standstill as they all stared at the smoke.

"Woah there!" Aubergine gasped, shaken by the explosions in every sense of the word. "It looks like there was some kind of… accident over at the stables. Good thing all the horses are out here, right folks?"

Aubergine laughed nervously before she finally noticed that Ruby was in the room with her fighting with Mercury, at which point she gasped "Oh my god!"

This naturally sent the crowd into a panic and they all started to flee the stadium en masse. Yang simply just kept munching on her popcorn for a few more moments before tossing her bag to the side and walking up to the rear supports holding up the announcer's booth.

"Well, since the party's already started, why don't I do us all a favor and bring down the house?" she said to herself before grabbing onto the steel beam in front of her and ripping it out of the ground. This ended up throwing both Ruby and Mercury off balance right as they moved to charge at each other, causing Mercury to gasp "What the-" right before Yang punched out the other rear support. The windows to the booth quickly shattered and the booth began to crack from the roof of the stadium.

"Aw, screw this!" Mercury swore before jumping through one of the booth's broken windows and began sliding down one of the two remaining supports down to the racetrack.

The booth, meanwhile, finally broke from the ceiling above the stands and began sliding forward behind Mercury as Ruby fired at him from inside and Aubergine huddled terrified in a corner. Mercury picked up one of his feet and fired back at Ruby as he kept grinding along the rail, the force of his shots sending him towards the racetrack faster with every bullet.

Back on the ground, Yang casually dodged all the hunks of ceiling falling down onto her and smiled as she saw the stands continue to empty.

"Perfect!" she said proudly to herself. "Now all we need is some party favors".

"Hey, you!" an Ember guard shouted as he and his friends walked towards Yang from below. "Did you do all this?"

"Eh, you guys will do" said Yang, cracking her knuckles.

Down below, Mercury finally reached the racetrack and began running away as fast as he could with his Dust-infused boots. The announcer's booth crashed into the ground a second later, and Ruby quickly jumped out to give chase.

"Oh shit, it's Ruby Rose!" one of the jockeys shouted as he and the others began abandoning their horses. "Fuck it, no title is worth this!"

Ruby simply ignored them and used her semblance to get in front of Mercury and try to trip him Mercury managed to see it coming, but he still stumbled a little bit as he avoided Ruby's outstretched foot. Ruby used this as a chance to line up a shot with his head but didn't end up pulling the trigger when she saw that there was a horse standing right behind him. This distracted Ruby long enough for her to trip over something as well - a rock in her case - while Mercury quickly regained his balance and took off running again.

"I better not have just seen what I think I just saw" Weiss shouted at Ruby as she fought Embers in the nearby stands.

"Well, unless you didn't see me miss a shot because I was afraid I was going to shoot through him and hit a horsie then yeah, you saw it" Ruby replied. "Do we need to get your eyes checked with your ears too now?"

"The only thing I'm going to need checked is my head to make sure you haven't given me an aneurysm!" Weiss roared as she shot a man in the arm. "Now get back up before he gets away!"

"Righto!" Ruby said before jumping back on her feet and running back after Mercury.

Ruby fired both her guns at him a she ran behind him, but Mercury managed to sidestep all her shots with ease. He almost managed to make it to the edge of the racetrack too, but Ruby managed to stop him at the last second by knocking him to the ground with a flying kick. This knocked the wind right out of Mercury's lungs, but he recovered quickly and managed to launch himself into Ruby's back using only the guns in his boots.

"Ooof!" Ruby grunted as the impact made her land right onto her face.

Ruby quickly heard Mercury run up behind her to punch her in the back of the head, so she promptly countered by kicking him in the stomach with her right leg and righting herself with a front flip while Mercury was still stunned.

"Your days of exploiting these poor horsies is over, Mercury!" Ruby shouted as she turned back around to face him.

"Please, like you guys would have treated them any differently" Mercury replied.

"Well, for starters, we would have made sure they all had the pretty boys and stickers that they deserve!" Ruby retorted as she aimed her guns unsteadily.

Mercury just rolled his eyes and took out his pistol to start firing at her, to which Ruby easily dodged all of his shots. Mercury didn't seemed too concerned, however, even as she stepped closer and closer with her guns. Once she got close enough, Mercury moved as if he was going to take a step back but, at the last second, he brought it back down onto Ruby's left leg and fired a shot, breaking her leg through her Aura using pure force.

"Aaaah!" Ruby screamed as she clutched her leg in pain. "Darn it, that hurt!"

"Aw, you break a leg there, little foal?" Mercury asked mockingly as he stood above her. "There goes your racing chances".

He then opened fire on her once again at close range and, while Ruby was able still able to dodge all the shots, but her broken leg ensured that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"I wouldn't bet against me just yet!" Ruby panted as she fired back at him. "This thorough still has some bread in it!"

"And here I thought you were lame before…" Mercury chuckled grimly before moving forward to kick/shoot at her again.

Ruby swiftly dodged to the side and managed to catch Mercury's leg under her right arm before pressing the tip of her left gun into his leg and firing relentlessly. This ended up blowing Mercury's right leg completely off below the knee, revealing it to be completely mechanical, much to Ruby's surprise.

Mercury cried out in pain and stumbled backwards away from Ruby, each of them now standing hobbled across from each other on their remaining good legs.

"You Saints think you own this city, but you're all just a bunch of lame mules - you just don't know it yet!" Mercury growled through his teeth. "And there's only one thing you can do with a lame steed".

"Oh, does it involve going to the glue factory?" asked Ruby.

"Yes…" Mercury replied, tightening his grip on his pistol.

"Oh boy, that's great!" Ruby said excitedly. "I actually just ran out of glue this morning and-"

Mercury interrupted Ruby by suddenly reaching into his back pocket, pulling out a grenade, and tossing it towards his opponent.

"Uh oh!" Ruby gasped as she reflexively caught it in her hands. "Live potato! I mean, hot bomb! I mean, someone, catch!"

In a fit of panic, Ruby tossed the bomb blindly into the stands next to her and into an entire group of embers that Blake was currently fighting. The grenade then went off, blowing the Embers into their namesake and drenching Blake in a tidal wave of blood.

"Welp… that's going to stain" Blake said as she stared down at her formerly-white clothes.

"Sorry Blake!" Ruby called out before turning back towards Mercury, where she saw him haul himself onto the abandoned horse she almost shot with his severed leg.

"Hiya!" Mercury shouted as he pulled on the reigns of the horse, eliciting no response from the animal. "Move it, asshole!"

Mercury kicked the horse with his one remaining good leg, causing it to winnie and finally start running off.

"No, horsie!" Ruby called out in despair. "How could you betray me!"

She quickly used her last good leg to reach a horse of her own as well, shouting "Go get'em, girl!" as she gently tugged on the reigns.

The horse did run towards Mercury like she wanted it to, but it was a bit faster than she expected and ran right past his horse.

"Wah!" Ruby gasped a she realized what happened. "Too fast, too fast! Where's your steering wheel!?"

She eventually managed to force the horse to stop and turn around, at which point she and Mercury stared each other down from around twenty feet apart. Mercury smirked at the scared look on Ruby's face and pointed his severed mechanical leg right towards Ruby's head.

"Well, I don't want to put these little guys in danger… but if it's a jokey joust you want, it's a jokey joust you'll get!" Ruby announced, placing her right gun onto her back and holding out her left gun.

"Yaaaaah!" Ruby shouted as the two charged towards each other, firing a sustained burst at the silver gangster. The shaking of the horse sent her bullets flying around randomly, however, and she wasn't able to land a single shot before Mercury managed to take aim and land a few directly into her chest.

"Ooof!" Ruby grunted as the two passed each other. "Hold still, horsie, I need to get a good shot! I wonder how he's so good at it…"

"I guess my horseshoes are just luckier than yours" Mercury replied as he and Ruby turned their horses around for another charge. Instead of screaming at him, however, Ruby simply closed her eyes took a deep breath.

"Calm down, Ruby…" she thought to herself as she steadied her aiming arm. "You only need one".

This time she waited until she was only a yard away from Mercury, at which point she pulled the trigger and landed a shot that hit him right in the cheek. This was more than enough to knock Mercury off his horse and tumble to the ground, giving Ruby the opportunity to pulverize his chest with a barrage of flaming Dust. This proved to be just enough to break through his Aura, leaving him with nothing protecting him but a flaming shirt.

"Shit!" Mercury shouted as he struggled to take of his shirt. "I've got to get this off!"

"Here, let me help with that!" Ruby said as she rode over to him.

Once there, she pulled back roughly on her reins and forced her horse to rise up on it's back legs. Its feet came back down right onto Mercury's burning chest, which caused the horse to panic and start stomping its feet repeatedly and crushing Mercury's chest in the process.

"There!" Ruby said triumphantly. "Fire's out!"

"About damn time!" Weiss said from the stands as she kept firing at Embers with one hand and took out her phone to call Yang with the other. "It's been done. Let's get out of here".

"Eh, that's fine with me. For a racetrack, this place has a real lack of studs" Yang said on the other end over the sounds of screaming gangsters. "Nothing but toothless geldings here!"

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something to ride on again soon enough" Weiss said dryly before closing her phone and waving Ruby over towards her.

"Hey, horsie homie!" Ruby said as she rode up to her. "What's up?"

"Firstly, don't ever call me that again" Weiss replied, not even bothering to look away from the Embers she was still shooting at. "Secondly, it's time to go. I'll meet you at the car".

"Actually, that won't be necessary!" Ruby replied chipperly. "I've got my own ride now".

"Oh no you don't!" Weiss snapped, taking a moment to glare at Ruby as she reloaded behind the front row of seats. "Having one stupidly expensive pet is bad enough when it doesn't also leave piles of shit everywhere it walks! Leave that thing behind!"

"Aw, but Weiss!" Ruby whined as she snuggled the neck of her stolen horse. "She's so cute! Plus, I'm sure if we just strap a few guns to her sides, she'll be just as good a homie as you!"

"You do realize that 'she' is just going to get shot on the way back, right?" Weiss asked as she returned to shooting.

Ruby thought about this for a few moments before finally sighing "Darn it…" and getting down off her horse. "Wait for me, sweet Chestnut! I'll save some tickets for a glue factory tough, just for us!"

The horse stared back dumbly as the firefight continued.

"Augh, let's go already!" Weiss groaned as she grabbed Ruby by the collar and dragged her to the parking lot.

They both made their way to Weiss's car as fast as they could, where they piled in and found Blake and Yang already waiting in the back seats.

"What the- Blake!" Weiss shouted as soon as she saw her bloodsoaked friend. "You're staining fucking everything!"

Blake simply shot back a deadpan look and pointed towards Ruby in front of her. Weiss glanced over in her boss's direction but Ruby just whistled and pretended not to notice.

"Of course…" Weiss said as she hit her accelerator over the sound of incoming police sirens.

* * *

Not too far away, Emerald was still recovering from the previous night's assassination attempt in Cinder's office, resting on her couch with bandages on her chest while Cinder worked diligently behind her desk. At the moment, Cinder was looking at a large map of Vale on her computer with places in the eastern part of the city circled or highlighted.

Suddenly she heard some buzzing from her phone and she checked it to find a message on it. After reading her way through it, she let out a long sigh and shut off her computer.

"Bad news" she said as she stood up from her chair. "This war has officially become too much cost for too little reward".

"You mean Mercury went the way of his dear old dad?" Emerald asked with a groan. "Shit… this changes things. We need to turn things around, and fast".

"I couldn't agree more" Cinder replied. "I think it's about time I called in a few extra favors…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter beta-read by Mr. Stark357


	30. Chapter 30

Weiss's morning began with her doing the same thing she normally did for the Saints; driving a car.

But this time was a bit different, as she wasn't trying to escape anyone and she wasn't driving her own car. Indeed, Weiss actually wished she had an escape car just so she could flee from this wretched white van. Unlike her own car, this van was full of trash, bugs, and something that made the all the seats sticky that she really didn't want to know the origin of. Still, she knew there was no helping it - her trunk could carry only so much dead weight, after all.

Eventually, Weiss spotted her destination amongst the tall factories of the western industrial district and turned right into a busy construction site sitting next to the sea. Two of the three vans that were following her did the same, with the third continuing on for a few seconds before realizing its mistake and hurriedly backing up into the entrance of the construction site to follow the others.

As they drove further into the construction site, the workers all continued their work, hammering, welding, and pouring cement, without paying the familiar vans any mind. Eventually, they came to a stop outside the foreman's office - well, three of them did anyways. The fourth one, going in reverse, didn't see that the others had stopped in time and ended up bumping into the one in front it, which sent that one crashing into the one of it, which sent that one into Weiss's van and Weiss's face straight into her steering wheel.

"Ruby!" Weiss called out in pain as she pulled her face off the wheel and stormed out of the car. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry, Weiss!" Ruby called back as she jumped out her window.

"Oh, lighten up!" Yang said as she got out from the van behind Weiss. "It's not like these rides could get any shittier!"

"Plus, it's not as if we have to worry about the health of the passengers" Blake added from the van behind Yang's.

"Well, we still shouldn't be drawing attention to ourselves regardless" Weiss retorted. "We're a long way from home right now, and I'd rather not get us into trouble".

"Yeah, speaking of that remind me why we came all the way out to the middle of nowhere to do this again?" asked Yang.

"Because you don't get rid of evidence in your own home, numbskull!" Weiss growled as she pulled open the door to her van and revealed that it was packed to the brim with dead bodies.

"Augh, who cares about evidence!" Yang groaned, rolling her eyes. "We're already the most wanted girls in the kingdom! I say, let the cops find the bodies, or just feed them to Smiley. That way, we don't have to deal with all this cleanup."

"Well, think of it this way, Yang" said Blake, cutting in before Weiss could yell anything at her. "If the police don't know what happened to these guys, they'll spend more time and money trying to find out. Which means they'll have less time and money trying to hunt us down".

"Yeah, and Smiley doesn't like rotten food!" Ruby added with a nod.

"Eh, fair enough" Yang said after thinking about it for a few moments. "You sure no one will find the bodies out here, though?"

"Ladies, ladies, please!" a fat, bald man interrupted as he walked out of the foreman's office. "I run a professional operation here! Ain't no one gonna find these guys once I'm done with them, least of all the cops."

"Hello, Mr. Granite" Weiss greeted as she extended her hand.

"Greetings, Ms. Schnee!" Granite said as he shook her hands. "I haven't seen you since back when you wore different colors".

"Really?" Ruby asked in confusion. "You mean Weiss once wore something that wasn't white? I can't even imagine what that would look like!"

She then paused for a few moments before raising her arm and placing her red sleeve in front of her view of Weiss.

"Ruby, that's not what he-" Blake began to say before Ruby cut her off with "Sush! I'm imagining…"

Weiss simply rolled her eyes and said "That was a long time ago, Granite. Now, are you going to help us or not?"

"Of course, of course!" Granite said as a police officer quietly cocked his gun from behind a small concrete wall nearby. "Just pick up the bodies and follow me".

The Saints quickly grabbed some unused wheel barrows and loaded them up with various amounts of corpses. Most of them only ended up taking three or five, but Yang's pile stretched so high that it barely fit underneath the iron girders of the construction site as they followed behind Granite.

"So; what'll it be?" Granite said as he clapped his hands together.

"I was thinking ten cement coffins and twenty pairs of cement shoes" Weiss replied. "You can put the charge on my card as a 'gift' to your company".

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" Ruby said excitedly to herself at this. "Cement shoes! Just like real gangsters!"

"Ruby, we are real gangsters" Yang reminded her.

"Oh yeah… I forget that sometimes!" Ruby said with an embarrassed smile.

"Right… of course!" Granite replied nervously as the group finally came to a stop in front of a large hole in the ground. "So, which of these lucky corpses are going to get a 'proper' funeral?"

"Those would be ours" Blake replied as she and Ruby both dumped their wheelbarrows into the pit. The workers quickly got to work filling the hole with wet cement, ensuring that no one would find those bodies for a long time.

"Now, if you can just lie the rest of these bad boys down and we can get to work fitting their shoes" Granite said, turning back to the Saints.

"You got it!" Yang said as she lifted up two corpses and began lining them all in a row. As she did so, some of the workers put boxes around their feet and began filling them with cement. Once this was done, they moved onto the next pair.

"Augh… they always leave stuff like this out of the movies...:" Ruby whined.

"Well, you can see why, can't you?" asked Blake.

"Yes, because it's boring!" Ruby replied. "I don't want to wait around for all the 'shoes' to be put on and the cement to dry! I want to skip to the cool part!"

"Sorry, Rubes, but real life doesn't have a fast forward button" Yang pointed out.

"Darn…" Ruby swore. "I need a break… where's the nearest bathroom?"

"It doesn't exist yet" Granite replied. "But you're more than welcome to use one of our mobile Johns if you want to, though - I guarantee it'll be more interesting than this, but not necessarily in a good way".

"Aw… I'll take it" Ruby whined before walking back through the construction site, police officers above her silently taking aim at her lieutenants as she walked.

Ruby found the portable toilet sitting next to a large septic truck, with the hose lying next to it indicating that the toilet was just drained. Reaching the door, she found it both locked and the little sign on the outside reading 'occupied' - though that didn't stop her from ignoring both of those and tearing the door right open. On the other side was a very surprised police officer holding an assault rifle. The man quickly panicked and raised his gun to shoot her, but Ruby just grabbed him by the collar and tossed him behind her, causing him to hit the ground with a painful "Ooof!"

"Out of the way, Mr. Cop!" Ruby called out as she sat herself down onto the toilet and shut the door. "I've got some business to take care of!"

"Wait, cop?" Bake asked as she turned and saw the man struggling to get up. "Everyone, get down!"

Weiss, Blake and Yang all jumped into cover just before over two dozen police officers popped out of cover and opened fire, sending sparks and chips of concrete flying everywhere as bullets collided with the construction site. Granite ran for cover as well, but he instead ran towards the police officers instead of away while his workers either ran off as well or took out guns to start shooting at the Saints.

"Dammit, Granite!" Weiss swore as she pulled a gun out of her purse. "I trusted you!"

"What can I say? The cops made me an offer I couldn't refuse," she heard Granite say over the gunfire. "Besides, you're all nuts if you think you can keep this up forever".

"You're gonna pay for this…" Weiss growled before standing up and summoning a glyph to block shots behind her while she fired on the officers in front of her.

Ruby, meanwhile, was still in the middle of taking a dump when the bullets began ripping through the walls of her porta potty.

"Hold on, I'm almost done!" Ruby shouted as she hurriedly finished up. "Geeze, some people just can't hold it in…"

"Okay, I'm do-" Ruby said as she walked outside, only to get cut off by Blake tackling her to the ground.

"Ruby, be careful!" Blake shouted as bullets whizzed over their heads. "We're under attack!"

"We are?" Ruby asked, nonchalant. "I thought Yang had gotten bored too or something".

"Nope" Blake replied before sitting up a little to take a few shots. "Turns out the foreman was lying about the 'no cops' thing".

"Aw man… he could have told us he had a piggie problem! I would have totally helped him out!" Ruby whined underneath Blake.

"Ruby, it was a trap" Blake explained, taking a moment to reload.

"Oh… that makes more sense" Ruby replied.

"So, you gonna help us fight them off?" Blake asks right before landing yet another headshot.

"Hmm… I could, but I think I have an even better idea…" Ruby replied as she glanced mischievously at the septic tank behind her.

Back on the other side of the camp, Yang was currently the only Saint brave enough to move out of cover, and was running around smacking police officers upside the head with her dildo bat. She barely flinched as a few of them managed to land a few shots and she continued knocking officers unconscious or into pits of cement.

One of the officers almost managed to sneak up behind her with a shotgun, but Yang managed to spin around and knock him off his feet at the very last second. When he desperately got back up and tried to reach for his shotgun, Yang picked up a nail-gun that had been lying on a nearby cinder block, pressed it against his temple, and pulled the trigger.

"Heh, I always knew I'd nail a guy to death one day" Yang said to herself before turning to Weiss, who was hiding behind an iron girder. "What's the matter, sweet cheeks? Too afraid to dance out in the open?"

"I'd try telling you that prudence and cowardice are two different things, but I'm afraid that you trying to learn something might hurt you more than the bullets" Weiss replied popping off guns left and right.

Her shots were blocked by a Dust-proof shield, however, allowing the officer behind it to absorb the shots safely before taking out his own gun and shooting back. He and the officers behind him started to move forward as well until, suddenly, a blue and brown slurry suddenly collided with his side and knocked him off his feet. The slurry just kept on coming, knocking down the guy behind him too, and causing the man behind him to slip and fall.

Turning back towards the porta potty, they all saw Ruby holding onto the hose connected to the septic truck spraying every police officer she could with a thick, shitty sludge. A few more officers turned towards Ruby and tried to stop the blast with their riot shields, but they ended up slipping on it as their shoes and the ground ended up being caked in the gooey excess.

This gave Weiss the perfect opportunity to break her cover and charge forward, shooting down every officer who stood in her way. With them out of the way, Weiss turned her attention back towards the hostile workers as the remnants of the police force began to retreat.

"Shit, not again!" the officer in charge of the operation swore as he kept firing. "Fall back! Fall-"

The officer ended up getting cut off in more ways than one as Blake slammed into him with a speeding forklift, cutting him in two when she collided with the wall behind him. The Faunus girl quickly got out and moved to chase after the fleeing officers, only for her to stop short as Weiss grabbed onto her shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll let Ruby deal with this shit" Weiss told Blake as Ruby kept on spraying everything she could see.

"Woohoo!" the redhead shouted as the hose sprayed so hard the kickback was lifting her up off the ground. "I haven't had this much fun playing with poop since I was five!"

Blake watched as the police officers kept trying to land a shot on Ruby, only for their eyes and visors to be clogged with septic fluid and their bodies knocked off the side of the construction site and into the ocean below. A few of them even gave up trying to shoot her altogether and were simply grappling at whatever they could to avoid slipping from all the sludge.

"Fair enough" Blake said, turning back to Weiss. "You want to go get one of the vans?"

"Not just yet…" Weiss replied before leading her back towards the foreman's office.

There, they found several armed workers who seemed rather keen on keeping their employer safe at all costs. They opened fire with their machine guns as soon as the girls came into view, but none of them backed down. Instead, Blake summoned two shadow clones and ran directly at them, causing a few of them to flinch as they anticipated punches that never came. That didn't mean that they went unharmed, however, as Weiss and Blake quickly took the opportunity to finish them off.

With the grunts taken care of, Weiss raised her high-heeled shoe and kicked in the door to the office, revealing Granite hiding behind a group of guards. Blake and Weiss quickly gunned them all down before all three of them cornered Granite in the back of the room.

"Ladies, ladies, please!" the foreman pleaded as he put up his hands. "Surely we can talk about this! You know, there's a whole lot of bodies out there that need hiding now, and I can offer you a great deal-"

Before he could finish, Weiss shot him in the left side of his stomach and he began slumping to the ground, clutching his wound as his blood coated the wall behind him.

"Sorry, but that doesn't seem to be worth the trouble anymore," Weiss said as she bent down towards his face. "But if you want to throw yourself in some cement outside for us, I certainly won't stop you".

"You can't… outrun fate forever, Weiss…" Granite grunted in pain. "People like us… we're all going to end up like this eventually… I just realized it sooner".

"Cry me a river" Weiss said as she picked up her credit card from his table. "You're just a piece of trash from my past that I should have thrown away a long time ago".

"Yeah, about that… are we ever going to seriously talk about how you were totally part of the Embers at one point, or are we just going to keep dancing around that?" Yang asked awkwardly.

Weiss replied by simply jagging Yang in the side with her elbow.

"Ouch! Fine, keep being a bitch then!" Yang grumbled before storming out of the room. "Let's get out of here!"

"No arguments here" Blake said before she, Weiss, and Yang all piled into one of their vans.

"Hey guys, wait for me!" Ruby called out as she left her spraying hose behind and sprinted towards the van, soaked in blue.

"Oh no you don't!" Weiss said as she shut the door to the van in Ruby's face. "You drive back on your own!"

"Aw… party pooper!" Ruby whined before jumping into another van and they both started their engines. Her friends took off as soon as they could, but Ruby ended up running into a few things (and police officers) before finally making it to the street and driving off into the city.

* * *

Back in the upper west side, Cinder and Emerald both sat anxiously in front of the phone in Cinder's office. The air was heavy with smoke as Cinder put out yet another cigarette in the ashtray in front of her, an audible silence filling the room as she let the flames get snuffed out.

Finally, the silence was broken by the phone starting to ring, which Cinder promptly picked up.

"Hello there" Cinder answered brightly. "May I help you?"

"You said this would be easy!" the mayor's voice growled back on the other side.

"Calm down, miss" Cinder said cautiously. "This is just another minor setback".

"Minor setback!?" the mayor gasped in reply. "This is the third time you've made me look like a fool in front of the people of Vale, and I'm not going to let you do this to me again! If you want to keep pursuing this war, you are on your own!"

"Calm down - there is no need to do anything hasty" Cinder advised. "You know we share the same interests here, and I would hate to have to use my influence to remind you of that".

"Fuck off!" the mayor replied before violently slamming the phone, causing Cinder to flinch from the noise.

Cinder let out a long sigh before picking up another cigarette and lighting it with her fingers.

"Well… I have good news and bad news" Cinder said as she blew a puff of smoke. "The bad news is that the mayor won't be playing by our rules anymore. But the good news is… she won't be mayor for much longer".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this took so long guys, but I've been having some issues contacting my editor, so if you see any errors that's probably why. But, it is summer now, so I should hopefully have more time to write and work on this story!


	31. Chapter 31

The sun shined high above Vale's old city hall in the north eastern part of town, though most people couldn't tell since grey clouds had mostly obscured it. The overcast made the bright building, a large, jagged structure completed only twenty years ago that was painted a rainbow of colors and shades, look rather dull. It was as if a shadow had descended upon the entire city block.

None of the people in the the crowd outside had bothered to bring umbrellas, however, least of all was Emerald as she stood by a tree across the street from the building in her best green business suit. She knew that the cloud above would move on soon enough, and that today was going to very sunny one way or another.

A minute later and she finally saw what she was waiting for; a large, well-guarded motorcade on its way to the back of the building. Heavily-armed police officers walked alongside the fancy, black car as it moved, scanning the crowds for any sign of trouble. Though, when one of them spotted Emerald, the officer exchanged an oddly familiar nod with her.

As the mayor's car parked off in a private place no one could see, the final audience members filed into the courtyard in front of the building. There, a stage and a podium were both set up, along with a large banner underneath it that read 'Celebrating Vale History'.

Among the audience members were people from all over the city - mothers, fathers, children, workers, drunkards, and four women who one would normally not expect to be at such a civic-minded event; The Saints.

"Hmmmm…" Weiss breathed in deeply as they walked across the grass towards the stage. "Aaaaaah… fresh air at last! After that disgusting disaster at the construction site a few days ago, I needed a this."

Weiss's joy was short lived, however, as a small farting noise next to her right ear suddenly brought a scowl back to her face.

"Yaaaaang!" Weiss snarled as she turned around.

"Ahahaha, the look on your face!" the blonde laughed as she took her hands down from her face. "Chill-out, ice queen! We're supposed to be relaxing right now! Having fun!"

"Yes, and looking at really, really big guns!" Ruby squealed as she jumped onto her sister's back. "Oh, I can't wait to see them! I heard that some of them are powerful enough to level buildings!"

"You're seriously here for the guns?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow. "But, you practically eat, drink, and breath them already".

"But none of them have been in actual wars before! The body counts on some of them must be ginormous!" Ruby countered. "Besides, why else would anyone go to this museum thingy?"

"Uh, for the art?" Weiss asked in contempt.

"Laaaaame!" Ruby retorted. "I mean, I love art just as much as the next girl, but nothing can compare to the beauty of a fine, Dust-spewing cannon!"

"Ugh, you're hopeless," Weiss groaned, gripping the bridge of her nose. "You sure that we're okay to be out here with all these cops around right Blake?"

"I hacked into their databases last night and replaced all our photos with pictures of random Vale women. Assuming no one else recognizes us firsthand and has the guts to call us out, we should be alright." Blake replied. "And if it makes you feel any better, I'm here for the art too".

"Hey, look, it's Ruby Rose!" a large police officer called out as a girl with blue hair walked by and texted on her phone. "Get her!"

"Huh?" was all the random woman had time to say before she swiftly found herself at the bottom of a massive police dogpile.

"Just keep moving, girls." Weiss said as the Saints tried their best to walk by as casually as they could. "Just keep moving…"

As the police dragged off their suspect to a clandestine van nearby, the stage in front of old town hall finally began to fill. First there were a few police officers, followed by a few local politicians who sat down in chairs behind the main podium, before finally the mayor herself arrived. Natalia Fuschia was short compared to most in Vale, standing at only five feet tall, but she still somehow towered over those around her. Her hair was blonde with two streaks of color in it, one pink and one purple, and reached down to her shoulders. She was wearing a formal, pink dress whose skirt veered off to her right side, covering her right leg and riding so high on her left leg that you could see her purple garter.

The mayor's high heels clanked against the ground as she stormed towards the stage, an angry look on her face as she muttered quietly to herself.

"God damn fucking bitch…" Natalia whispered as she made her way to the podium. "Who does she think she is, calling me at a time like this…"

At the podium, she tapped the microphone a few times to make sure it was on, but no sound came out of the speakers. She quickly glared at her personal assistant, a tall, thin woman with pink hair in a business suit, as she quickly an frightenedly ducked under the stage to try and fix the problem. There was an audible click a few seconds later, but the staffer never came back out. Instead, it was Emerald, who walked up onstage and took the assistant's seat - though, the mayor didn't appear to notice the change. The guards seemed to notice, but none of them seemed particularly interested.

"Hey… is that who I think it is?" Ruby asked curiously from the packed crowd when she spotted the green-haired girl.

"Ssssh, the speech is starting," Blake interrupted as the mayor cleared her throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Natalia began, her face suddenly shifting from dower to upbeat. "On this day, decades ago, the Great War between Vale,Vacuo, Atlas and Mistral came to an end. On that day, we secured our permanent independence for our kingdom, security for the world, and freedom of expression for everyone. On that day, this building was commissioned to be the new seat for the city of Vale's local government; a tribute to those we lost in the war, and the ideals of freedom we will never lose".

As Natalia spoke, Ruby noticed Emerald reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out a tube of lipstick.

"But in those eighty years, our city has grown and changed," the mayor continued. "And as such, the city council and I have agreed to transfer over to a new city hall. But we in Vale remember and respect our past, so today I am officially designating this building as a museum dedicated to the history of the Great War and the art the war was fought to protect. It will forever stand as a testament to the fact that, while Vale may go through hard times, no one, not even the strongest armies on Remnant, can take away our national soul".

The audience broke out into enthusiastic applause as one of Natalia's aides hurriedly brought her a giant pair of golden scissors and the politicians collectively made their way to the ribbon blocking the front door to the new museum. Emerald was not far behind, as she popped off the top of her lipstick tube and twisted out a short, grey knife that was dripping with something green.

"It is her!" Ruby gasped as she pushed her way through the crowd and took out her two hidden machine guns from underneath her skirt.

Emerald glanced back just in time to see this happen, her eyes widening as the crowd gasped.

"Get down!" Emerald shouted as she tackled the mayor to the ground and Ruby opened fire, the Dust bullets tearing through the ribbon and the wooden door behind it. Emerald tried her best to use this as an opportunity to stab Natalia with her knife as well, but the impact just managed to knock the 'lipstick' tube out of her grasp.

"Ugh, you've got to be kidding me!" Weiss groaned as she took out a pistol and began firing at the cops charging at Ruby. "I can never get away from work, can I?"

"What the hell is going on!?" mayor Natalia shouted over the sound of screams and gunfire as Emerald rushed her into the building.

"I'm afraid it's The Saints…" Emerald said tiredly as officers poured past them out of the building and towards the entrance. "Again…"

"The Saints!?" Natalia gasped. "Dammit… they must have found out that I was working with the Embers… I blame you for this, Cerise!"

"Cerise?" Emerald asked in confusion before remembering what she looked like to Natalia. "Oh, right! Don't worry, mayor, I promise to take care of you… no matter what".

"You better, you little bitch, or you'll never work in this town again, do you fucking hear me!?" Natalia shouted before she realized there were security cameras everywhere. "Er… keep up the good work~"

"Come on, I think she went this way!" Ruby shouted to her compatriots as she dashed into the museum.

"Just a second!" Yang replied as she picked up the giant golden scissors outside. "Hmm… not quite as funny as a giant dildo, but this will have to do!"

"I'm starting to wonder why the police even bother looking for us," Weiss said angrily as she and Blake entered the building behind Yang and crashed a large wooden display in front of the door to stop anyone from chasing after them. "It seems like we just keep coming to them…"

"Someone sure sounds stressed," Blake observed as she shot a hole through a stained-glass window and started firing on the officers outside.

"You think?" was Weiss's sarcastic response. "Every day at this job is like sitting on a grenade hoping it doesn't explode… and it just doesn't stop!"

"Well… have you ever considered, you know… ditching?" Blake asked. "I mean, just a little bit, so you can relax".

"You know as well as I do we need to keep the boss out of trouble," Weiss groaned as she summoned a glyph to shield her from a barrage of incoming bullets from one of the art galleries.

"She's made it this far, hasn't she?" Blake countered. "I doubt she'd even notice - much less care - if we took a few moments to look at some art".

"Hmm… good point," Weiss relented before lowering her shield and killing the two officers who were just shooting at her. "Let's go".

Blake nodded and followed behind her, casually firing at any police officer they spotted as they walked through the halls.

Meanwhile, in the section of the museum dedicated to the Great War, Emerald and Natalia finally came to a stop behind a large, historical gun display.

"Alright, I think we'll be safe here for now," Emerald assured her 'boss'.

"Finally," Natalia said in contempt. "Now, I want you to punch me".

"Wait, what?" Emerald gasped in shock.

"You heard me!" the mayor shouted back, closing her eyes and leaning forward. "I need to look more roughed-up for when the police finally rescue me to get more points with the press. Now, don't hold back, Cerise!"

"Well… if you say so," Emerald said as she activated bracelet knives and pulled her fist back for a punch. "This is going to be even easier than I thought…"

But, right before she could land the shot, bullets shot through the display case next to them and sent glass flying everywhere and forced them both to duck for cover.

"Ahah!" Ruby said triumphantly as she pointed her twin machine guns down at them. "Now I've got - oooh, is that a cannon!?"

The young gang leader instantly dropped her weapons and rushed over to the artillery piece on display nearby, which gave Natalia more than enough time to get back on her feet and run. Her 'assistant' wasn't that far behind, and she looked even less happy.

"Rubes, what was that for?" Yang asked, welding the halves of her giant scissors like swords to fight off the police. "You had her right where you wanted her!"

"No, I want her in front of this bad girl right here~" Ruby countered as she jumped on top of the gun's massive barrel and gave it a hug. "She's been sitting around doing nothing for so long… she deserves to be fired at least one more time!"

"Are you sure you won't blow up the whole building with that thing?" Yang asked, eyebrow raised.

"Only one way to find out!" Ruby replied before running off to find some shells for it, completely ignoring the the police officers swarming the building.

"Well, suit yourself," Yang said as she shoved her blades into one of the cops, lifted him up off the ground, and used his body to stop shots fired by his friends. "But I'm going to gonna try finishing her off more personally, if you don't mind".

"Alright, good luck!" Ruby said just as she shoved an ancient cannister of Dust into the artillery piece. "Now… how to move this thing around…"

"Come on, keep moving," Natalia ordered as she ran into the art section of the museum. "I didn't spend five hours in the makeup chair just so I can get it shot off by some gangster!"

"Don't worry… getting shot will be the least of your problems," Emerald said as she ran behind her, getting ready to take another stab at her.

"Hmm… very nice use of colors," Weiss said as she and Blake stared at a large painting of a forest further in the art gallery. "Smooth, relaxing, and not at all gaudy, which is more than I can say for most of the stuff in this museum".

"Exactly. You don't need to be completely bursting with color for a work of art to be good," Blake agreed before she noticed an officer with a shotgun sneaking up behind them. "Hold on a sec".

The officer let out a cry of anger as Blake flipped around and pinned him to the floor. He managed to get off a shot in the struggle, but it only grazed Blake's Aura before she ripped the gun from his hands, turned it around, and fired it straight into his face.

"Augh… so much for subdued use of color," Weiss sighed as the officer's blood now dripped down the painting.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Blake said as she stood up. "I'll try and get them from further away next time".

"No worries, there's still plenty to look at," Weiss said as they walked over to the next painting and casually shot at any officers they saw along the way.

"Now this one's just amateure! No form or reason to it at all," Weiss said at the next painting. "How the hell did they let something like this into the gallery?"

"I don't know, but- wait, hold on again," Blake said before reaching her foot back and tripping Emerald as she ran behind her. "I think it has some charm to it".

"Grrr…" Emerald grumbled as she struggled to her feet.

"Hey, I don't pay you to whine!" the mayor called out behind her. "I pay you to- oh dear…"

"Going somewhere, sweet cheeks?" Yang said from the doorway in front of them, holding two blood-stained scissor blades.

"Well, uh… there's no need to be hasty, my new friend!" Natalia said, her demeanor switching once more as Yang walked towards her as Natalia walked backwards towards Emerald. "We may have had some disagreements in the past, but I'm sure our futures will both be bright and dandy if we-"

"Can it, babe; I'm not here to talk," Yang said before stabbing her right blade towards Natalia's side - at least, that's what it looked like from the mayor's perspective as she dodged out of the way of both the scissor blade and the knife Emerald tried to stab in her back.

"Oh come on, I'm sure there's some kind of deal we can make!" Vale's mayor said as she kept dodging blows from Yang that weren't truly aimed at her while accidentally avoiding Emerald's knife from behind.

"Come on! Hold still, you little…" Yang complained as she swung her blades wildly and recklessly, clearly not caring if Natalia was skewered or not.

"Well, uh… I'm just… dancing! I feel so alive today, after all!" Natalia laughed, trying her best to keep up her 'diplomatic' demeanor. "Being alive really is wonderful after all, isn't it?"

"Yeah but you're not going to be part of the breathing club much longer if you don't get out of the way!" Yang shouted in frustration just as Emerald's knife slid a mere inch away from the mayor's throat.

"No, don't worry, I'm already out of the way!" Natalia assured her as the 'dance' continued. "I already cut ties with the Embers days ago! So, I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to cut my head's ties to my torso, please!"

"Wait, you worked with the Embers?" Yang asked in confusion. "Wait, nevermind, I don't care!"

"Wait… if you're not here for that, then why are you-" Natalia said just before she felt a blade slice her left shoulder. "Gyaaah!"

With that, she fell to the floor and turned around, still clutching her fresh wound.

"Cerise?" the mayor asked, looking up at her assistant. "What the fuck just hit me!? If you don't tell me right now, I'm going to make sure to give you a mark twice as big once we get out of this!"

Emerald's only reply was to stand over her 'boss' and thrust her knife downwards again, only for the blade to be blocked by Yang's blades as they attempted to stab Emerald in the gut.

"Er… maybe I've been too harsh on you in the past, dearie," Natalia said nervously, switching back to her upbeat personality. "I'll tell you what… you stop what you're doing right now, and I  _won't_ make you pay for cleaning and fixing my dress…"

"Augh, I'm not your damn assistant!" Emerald groaned as she finally let the illusion fade. "I really did that girl a favor by killing her…"

"You!?" Natalia gasped as the struggle of blades continued inches from her face. "But… how did you… how did I…?"

"I'm afraid that's on a need-to-know basis… and I'm afraid you don't need to know anything anymore," Emerald said before picking up a foot and bringing it hard down onto the mayor's stomach.

This gave Yang the perfect opportunity to deliver her own kick, however, straight into Emerald's groin that sent her flying. Her Aura absorbed most of the impact, but she still struggled not to flinch too much from the pain.

"I'm afraid there is one thing everyone needs to know - even the dead and dying," Yang said as she raised a blade towards Emerald. "Never bet against Yang Xiao Long!"

Emerald stared angrily for a moment before smirking and disappearing from Yang's sight.

"Wait, what!?" Yang gasped. "Where did she go?"

"What are you talking about, you bone-headed bitch?" Natalia asked in confusion. "She's right in front of you!"

"No, she just disappeared!" Yang shouted back. "Don't you have-eaaaah!"

Yang let out a sharp cry of pain as she felt Emerald's knife stab straight into the right side of her chest. Her Aura still caught it, but because she didn't see it coming the blade still did more than enough damage to draw blood.

"Fuck, you just stabbed me in the tits!" Yang whined as she jumped back and swung her blades wildly. "Now that's just low!"

"What's the matter, blondie?" Yang heard Emerald's voice say from right behind her. "Don't you like it a little rough?"

"Gaaah!" Yang gasped as she turned around and jumped backwards - right into Emerald's waiting knife. "Fuck!"

"Okay, are you blind or something, or just unbelievably thick?" the mayor asked from the ground. "She's! Right! There!"

"Where are you- oh! There she is!" Yang said as she spotted Emerald on the other side of the room - only for that Emerald to become two, and then four, and then sixteen, and then even more as they all charged at Yang.

"Oh shit!" Yang swore. "Get the hell away, you green fucks! Hiya! Ya! Augh!"

"Augh…" Weiss groaned tiredly as Yang swung at nothing behind her. "Even when I try to run from work, it finds a way to follow me…"

"Should we do something to try and help her?" Blake asked, not bothering to look away from the painting of a pot they were staring at.

"In a minute," Weiss replied as they moved onto the next painting and she shot the kneecaps off yet another officer charging into the room. "I want to get a good look at these before those nutty sisters ruin them all".

"And I thought my last election opponent was pathetic…" Natalia groaned. "She's to your left!"

"Ooof!" Emerald grunted as Yang finally managed to land a hit. She quickly tried to reposition, but Yang managed to land another hit after the mayor shouted "To your right!"

"Okay, that's it, no more procrastinating," Emerald said as she jumped away and picked up a pistol off a downed officer. "And no more knives…"

"Fuck…" Natalia said a she desperately crawled away on the floor. "Towards me, towards me!"

"Now?" asked Blake.

"Now," Weiss said before pointing her gun over the shoulder, shooting the leg off a large statue and sending it crashing on top of Emerald's body.

"Phew… that was close," the mayor sighed in relief as Emerald struggled to get out from underneath the rubble. "You girls available for security?"

"Sorry, but that's not really our specialty," Blake replied, walking over.

"Then fuck off and call an ambulance!" Natalia shouted. "I've got places to be!"

"Such a charming politician…" Yang said just before she felt a statue collide with her face, knocking her out.

"What the hell!?" Weiss gasped as she looked over to see Emerald standing where she fell.

"You didn't think I'd go down that easy, did you?" she asked as she massaged her neck. "You don't get as far as I did without being tough".

"Tough talk… but I doubt our bullets will care," Weiss said, taking aim.

The moment before she pulled the trigger, however, Emerald suddenly disappeared from Weiss's vision and dashed forward. Blake quickly raised her gun as well, but as soon as she got a clear shot Emerald disappeared from the Faunus vision and reappeared in Weiss's.

"Dammit… it's like she's goddamn teleporting!" Weiss swore as they both failed to land a shot over and over again.

"Now I know what it's like to fight me," Blake said to herself. "Say, that gives me an idea…"

As soon as Emerald was a step away, Blake summoned a shadow clone and stepped back, allowing Emerald to shoot it at point-blank range before, Weiss quickly stepped in to try the same thing to Emerald, but a quick trick of the mind caused her to miss by mere inches.

The two Saints fired shot after shot after shot at the green-haired girl, but they were never able to land a single hit as she ducked, weaved, and disappeared from their vision. All the while, they felt their Auras weaken as Emerald fired her gun at them. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite land the killing blow on either of them since she had to keep dodging which ever one of them was actually looking at her.

"Okay, this is starting to get old," Emerald complained as she reloaded her pistol. "Hey, Black, why don't you take a little break while I finish your friend off?"

"Not going to-" was all Blake had time to say before her vision was blocked out by hundreds of Emeralds charging right at her.

Unable to tell which was real, and not wishing to accidentally shoot Weiss, Blake could do nothing but take out a knife and swing wildly at the laughing illusions around her.

The actual Emerald was actually quite still at the moment, however, as she and Weiss stared each other down in the middle of the wrecked art gallery.

"It's been awhile, Weiss," Emerald said as they slowly circled each other like lionesses in the wild. "Life treating you well?"

"Better than you assholes ever treated me," Weiss verbally shot back.

"Oooh, that stings, Weiss," Emerald said mockingly. "After all, we spent so much time helping you prepare to get revenge for your family…"

"You were the ones who told Roman to do it!" Weiss snapped as she opened fire and Emerald nimbly ducked underneath the shots.

"Eh, what's a little assassination between friends?" Emerald said she fired a shot into Weiss's leg, causing her to fall to the ground. "So, if it makes you feel any better, blowing your skull apart isn't anything personal".

Weiss scowled defiantly at the Ember above her but that did nothing to stop Emerald from placing her pistol against her head and cocking it.

"Give your mother my regards," Emerald smiled - right before a jeep suddenly burst through the wall next to her and sent debris flying in every direction. The shockwave of the impact sent both Weiss and Emerald spiraling towards the opposite wall, dazed and disoriented. At the same time, Blake stopped trying to stab the air around her and blinked a few times as she regained her bearings.

"I'm back!" Ruby shouted from behind the wheel of the heavy-duty jeep, the artillery piece she hugged earlier hooked to the back."Did I miss anything?"

"Oh, nothing too important," Yang said from underneath the statue of a naked man that was currently crushing her as she slowly drifted back to consciousness. "Just more guys hitting on me…"

"Ew, gross!" Ruby said, sticking her tongue out. "Oh, hey, it's Emerald! Just the girl I've been looking for!"

"Hey, get away from me you-" Emerald said as she backed up, only for Blake to suddenly grab her from behind and pick her up.

"Oh no you don't," Blake said, dragging her towards the cannon. "Your backstabbing days are over".

"Hey, let go of me!" Emerald grunted as she took out another knife and tried in vain to stab the Faunus behind her. "I'll skin you alive right now if you don't-mmmph!"

Emerald's voice was suddenly muffled as Blake shoved the Ember's head, and the upper half of her body into the artillery piece.

"Is it loaded, Ruby?" asked Blake.

"Oh, you don't even need to ask!" Ruby replied before hopping out of her car, pointing the cannon at the furthest wall, and pulling the chord.

Emerald shot out of the cannon a second later, a canister of Dust propelling her all the way to the opposite wall until they both hit and the canister exploded in a flower of fire and flames. By the time the explosion dissipated, the only trace that Emerald had ever even been there was a lone knife on the ground.

"Serves you right, you fucking skank-ass bitch!" Natalia swore, still clutching her wound.

"Woohoo, that was awesome! Ruby celebrated, clapping her hands. "Oh, we have to get one of these installed back at the crib!"

"We'll buy one for you later, okay?" Weiss said as she detached the cannon and forced Ruby out of the driver's seat. "But for now, let's get out of here before the mayor here attracts more police".

"Hey, what about me!?" Yang shouted from beneath her statue.

"What about you, Yang?" Weiss countered.

"Ugh… is a little help too much to ask?" Yang asked as she forced the statue off and they all jumped into the jeep.

"Yes, it is," Weiss replied as she stomped on the accelerator and the jeep drove outside through the hole the cannon just made.

"... I am never working with gangsters again," Natalia said as paramedics rushed into the room to start treating the wounded officers around her. "Hey! I don't care how many bullets that guy has in his kidney, you always treat the mayor first!"

* * *

For the first time in months, Cinder sat alone in her office - only the smoke from her cigarettes to keep her company. Her face was almost forcibly relaxed as she tried her best to simply enjoy the silence around her. She had been in there for hours, but it still felt like end of her peace and quiet came too soon as the buzzer on her desk suddenly went off.

"Yes, what is it?" Cinder asked, pressing down a button on the buzzer.

"Ms. Cinder… I'm afraid some of our clients from the upper east side have been calling to… renegotiate their contracts with you," her secretary replied through the speaker.

"Well tell them that, once signed, they are non negotiable," Cinder replied calmly.

"They said that if they don't get a better deal… they'll try and get one from The Saints instead," the secretary replied.

Cinder took her finger off the button and took one last, long drag from her cigarette before putting it out and pressing the button again.

"Tell them I will meet with them tomorrow at noon," Cinder replied. "No more calls for the rest of the night now, I need to sleep".

"Yes, ma'am," the secretary loyally replied.

"A woman's work is never done…" Cinder said before lighting up another cigarette with her fingers. "Never, ever done…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by Mr. Stark357


	32. Chapter 32

“What’s up, homies?! We’re back!” Ruby said cheerily as she walked into the Beacon cafeteria, the ashes of fine art still falling from her clothes. “It turns out that the museum was a lot more exciting than I thought it would be! You wouldn’t believe who we ran into there!”

“Was it the mayor and Emerald?” a Saint asked alongside a group of other Saints gathered in front of the TV.

“Yeah, it was!” Ruby replied. “How’d you know?”

The other Saints simply turned back to the TV, where news crews were filming the aftermath of the earlier carnage.

“Greetings,” a silver-haired newscaster in a black and purple suit said into the camera. “I’m Lisa Lavender, and today we witnessed a truly shocking sight - what witnesses first assumed was an assassination attempt on the mayor’s life by notorious new street gang, The Saints, turned out to actually be rescuers, not murders.”

“Actually, we still killed a shit ton of people,” Yang pointed out. “We just didn’t kill her.”

“No one knows yet why these criminals intervened to save Natalia Fuschia, the hardest-on-crime mayor Vale has ever seen, but she assures her constituents that what happened does not change her views.” Lisa continued before the camera cut to the mayor, huddling underneath a blanket beside two firemen.

“The irony of today has not been lost on me,” Natalia said, trying her best to look weak. “And while I am thankful for being alive… if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s never count on gangsters to stay nice to you.”

“In other news, the mayor has announced that the museum will now be closed again for renovations and repairs, including the addition of a new wing dedicated to the brave men and women of Vale’s police force who have died in the line of duty, a number which has skyrocketed in the recent-”

The TV suddenly flicked off.

“Blah blah blah, who cares?” Ruby said playfully as she jumped in front of the television. “What matters is that we killed Emerald in the most awesome way possible! Drinks are all on me tonight guys! Woohoo!”

The young criminal mastermind then began shuffling her hands and feet as she did a little victory dance, though none of the junior Saints seemed to share her enthusiasm.

“Huh? Why are you guys looking at me like that?” Ruby asked confusedly. “We killed the second biggest banana in the Ember buch! We should be celebrating!”

“You also saved the mayor,” one of her ‘homies’ replied. “You know… the woman who funds the cops… and the prosecutors… and the jails… and who got a bunch of us, and our families, locked up in prison.”

“What?!” Ruby gasped. “No, I did not! I just… happened to kill the woman who was trying to kill her right before she was about to be killed!”

“I’m preeeetty sure that’s called ‘saving’, sis,” Yang countered.

“No, it’s… incidental… helpful murder!” Ruby insisted, waving her arms around.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Blake said dryly as she walked off.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t save her!” Ruby whined, stomping her foot.

“Face it, Rubes, you’re such a government stooge now that you might as well trade in your flags for a badge now!” Yang laughed, hitting her sister on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they start mailing you donuts and shitty guns by tomorrow morning!”

“Noooo…” Ruby whined, her upper body drooping and tears streaming down her face. “But I don’t want a crappy pistol or a stupid uniform…”

“Sorry, but them’s the brakes,” Yang said, resting an arm on Ruby’s back. “You do one good thing, and it follows you for the rest of your life! Pretty soon, you’ll find yourself taking money  _ to _ banks, and snitching on jaywalkers. You’ll have your first peace prize in no time at all!”

“And I thought I could be overly dramatic,” Weiss said to herself before her phone suddenly rung in her purse. “Yes, hello? Who is this?”

“Yes, am I talking to the leadership of ‘The Paints’?” an older, posh male voice replied on the other end.

“Uh… do you mean ‘Saints’?” asked Weiss.

“Yes, that,” the voice replied dismissively. “My name is Pluribus Platinum, and I chair the neighborhood association in the Vale upper west side. I was wondering if perhaps you would be open to having dinner with my family and I this Saturday.”

“Pluribus Platinum?!” Weiss gasped, her free hand reflexively straightening her hair and clothes, even if he couldn’t see her. “Uh… may I ask why you wish to dine with us?”

“We wish to discuss a possible deal between your… association and ours,” Platinum replied. “We heard you are good at protecting things.”

“Oh no! It’s starting already!” Ruby gasped, her head suddenly shooting up from its slump. “Don’t listen to her! We’re terrible at protecting people! Don’t listen to that sla-”

Ruby stopped talking as both Blake and Yang dogpiled her and pressed her face into the ground.

‘Uh… yes, we are very good at protecting things, if I do say so myself,” Weiss replied, trying her best to pretend her boss hadn’t said anything. “And I think you will find our prices to be the most reasonable, and our quality the most fabulous, in all of Vale. We would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss this more.”

“Excellent.” Pluribus said with a hard cough. “We will meet you at our manor at six then. Good day!”

“Good day to you too, sir,” Weiss said before ending the call and letting out a long, relieved sigh. “Phew… that was close.”

“Hey, let go of me!” Ruby groaned as she finally managed to shake her lieutenants off. “What was that for?”

“Well, my guess is that it was for almost ruining the business deal of lifetime!” Weiss replied.

“Please, what’s the big deal anyways?” Ruby asked with a shrug. “We’re not bodyguards! If they want protection then they should just… buy more locks, or get a guard shark like we did.”

“It’s not that kind of protection they want, Ruby,” Blake began to explain. “What they want is us to take part in a protection  _ racket _ . Yeah, we’ll  _ technically _ be protecting their stuff from other gangs, but we’ll also be extorting the surrounding neighborhood for Lien - and plus, we’ll actually get money for not robbing anything or selling drugs in the neighborhood.”

“Wait… you’re saying we can get paid for doing absolutely nothing?” Ruby gasped. “That sounds… really boring! There’s no way I’m going to go to a dinner just so we can start doing nothing!”

“You don’t get it, you dunce! This is the last neighborhood in the entire city that’s not under our control yet!” Weiss shouted with stomp of her foot. “If we can take it over without bloodshed then we’ll not only get more money to buy more weapons, but we’ll have a bigger force for when we finally raid Cinder’s mansion!”

“And more homies and more guns means only one thing~” Yang added as she leaned on her sister’s shoulder.

“Bigger booms!” Ruby gasped in an explosion of excitement as she jumped up into the air. “One night of boring rich people is definitely worth that!”

“I’m glad you agree,” Weiss said as she grabbed Ruby by the wrist and began dragging her towards the dormitories.

“Uh… where are you taking me?” Ruby asked, her feet dragging along the floor.

“To get yousome more… business appropriate clothing,” Weiss responded.

“What!? I’ll have you know that I’m all business!” Ruby retorted as she pointed to her chest. “I have a  _ tie _ after all!”

“You have a hood too, though,” Yang pointed out. “And if they see you in that, they’ll probably call the cops on you on sight.”

“Actually, they’d probably just shoot you,” said Blake.

“Aw, but I love my hoodie-woodie!” Ruby whined as she snuggled her own hood. “Fine, but promise me you won’t make me look like an accountant or something!”

“Whatever,” was her friends tired reply before they finally reached her bedroom.

* * *

 

“Ugh, jeez… are you sure I can’t wear something else?” Ruby complained a few days later as she sat in the back of Weiss’s car in an elegant red dress. “This thing doesn’t have any pockets! Where am I supposed to keep my phone? Or my guns?”

“Well, you should have thought about that  _ before _ we left,” Weiss snarled back at her. “Besides, they won’t let us take guns inside anyways, so that would have been pointless.”

“No guns!?” the young gang-lord gasped as she hugged her two machine guns. “Then I might as well go in naked if I don’t get to bring in my precious Ogama and Little Red!”

“Well, if you have to have a gun, why don’t you do what I’m doing?” Blake suggested next to her as she raised the hem of her black dress to show the small pistol strapped to her upper thigh. “That way, if a guard’s hand gets too close no one will be suspicious if you push it away.”

“Hmm… well, I admit that baby gun is pretty cute, but power is it’s own cuteness in my opinion,” Ruby said before giving her guns one last snuggle. “No thanks!”

“Maybe you could try a purse? That way you can be fashionable and functional, unlike our driver who is only one of those things,” Yang suggested before the car suddenly came to a stop and she ended up with her face against the windshield. “Ooof!”

“We’re here,” Weiss said matter-of-factly as she exited out the driver’s side door. “Get out and be on your best behaviour everyone. First impressions mean a lot, you know.”

“Like how you left that ‘impression’ on my face?” Yang groaned as she got out as well, smoothing out her ruffled yellow skirt.

“Exactly! We can’t let them think we’re  _ too _ violent, or we’ll never get the deal,” Weiss replied. “So try to act as civilized as you can.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, Weiss!” Ruby said as she stepped out of car, opting to leave her guns behind for now. “Civil is practically my middle name!”

“No offense, but you’re about as civil as a civil war,” Blake said as she followed Ruby out in her silky black dress.

“Well then, we’ll just have to seal the deal before anyone realizes,” Weiss said, the mansion they were heading towards looming over their heads as they approached.

“Not the soundest plan I’ve ever heard, but at least it’s something,” Blake said, ringing the doorbell.

“Coming,” a man said on the other side briefly before the expensively-engraved door swung open. On the other side was a large, bald man with light skin wearing a tuxedo that seemed perpetually seconds from bursting off his body. He didn’t seem to have a Huntsmen’s Aura, but his muscles seemed strong enough to break one with his pinky finger if he wanted to.

“It is good to see you,” he said slowly and with a stoic face as he held the door open. “My employers are expecting you.”

“Oooh, they’re so rich that they have their own professional butt!” Ruby said, impressed.

“Uh, she means ‘butler’,” Blake quickly cut in.

“It is fine, miss,” the butler replied, his feet practically thundering as he lead them into the house. “Right this way.”

He lead the gangsters through a hallway anointed wall to wall with gold-framed paintings, desks covered in gem-encrusted boxes, and antiques refurbished  _ just _ enough look nice but not enough to look like they weren’t antiques. At the end of the hallway, they entered through another wooden door that looked more valuable than an entire forest and found themselves in a massive, glittering dining room. The chandelier above the table looked like a thousand petrified tears, and the table looked like it could seat a small army, though there were only two people sitting there at the moment.

One of them was an older gentlemen with pale skin and wearing a finely-laundered suit. He was mostly bald, but he still had silver sideburns on the sides of his head that matched nicely with his short grey moustache. The other was a woman who actually looked closer to Yang’s age, with long blue hair, snow-white skin, and wearing a sparkling blue dress.

“Ah, so our esteemed guests have finally arrived!” the old man, Platinum, said in a friendly tone as he stood up to greet them. “Welcome, welcome! Please, make yourselves at home!”

“Nice digs you got here, Pops!” Yang said with a whistle. “Oh, I forgot to ask earlier - is this dinner BYOB?”

“BYOB? Is that some kind of fraternity or something?” Platinum asked in confusion.

“Only the lame ones,” Yang replied.

“Hahaha, good one, Yang!” Weiss said with a subtle - but painful - jab to her fellow Saint’s side. “Always such a kidder - though she was right about the place looking lovely!”

“Oh, this old room? It’s nothing compared to dining rooms two through seven,” Platinum argued. “But, if things go well tonight, who knows? You might just get to see them.”

“You have seven dining rooms?” Ruby asked curiously as she backflipped into a random seat. “Does that mean you have, like, seven meals in a day? Is that why you’re so fa-”

“Faaaaeeetching dress you have there,” Blake interrupted, addressing Platinum’s wife.

“Why thank you, my dear,” she replied. “You look lovely too.”

Before Blake could flatter her anymore, however, the doorbell to the mansion suddenly rang again.

“Ah, lovely! That must be our other guest!” Platinum said, delighted. “Jeeves, would you please go let them in?”

“Yes sir,” the butler replied before lumbering off.

“Other guest?” Ruby asked just before Cinder, in her best orange dress, walked into the room. “Uh oh! Everyone, get down!”

Ruby quickly ducked underneath the dinner table with a butterknife and the greater of her two salad forks, expecting a rain of fire to come down on top of her. When it never came, Ruby gripped her ‘weapons’ in her hands and jumped out at the rival crimelord.

“Ayayayayaya-oof!” Ruby shouted before being caught by the arms of her lieutenants. “Hey, wait, what are you guys doing? This is our chance to finally get her!”

“Sorry, but we can’t afford to make any kind of scene!” Weiss groaned quietly, barely holding her boss back. “The deal is more important here! Murder can come later!”

“Oh my! Such a petulant child,” Cinder said confidently as she took her seat, in between Platinum and his wife. “Someone really should get her a pacifier to keep her quiet, and maybe a bib so she doesn’t ruin the tablecloth.”

“Ahahaha, good one, Cindy!” Platinum laughed heartily. “I forgot how funny you could be!”

“Please sir, you’re too kind~” Cinder said with an exaggerated laugh while the Saints got back in their seats.

“Hey, we can be funny too, you know!” Yang spoke up. “How are blowjobs like candy? Cinder gives both out for free on Autumnween! Ahahaha!”

Ruby’s laughter quickly joined her sister’s, but the rest met the joke with dead silence - and horrified looks from Weiss and Blake.

“What? That one not good enough for you?” Yang followed up with. “Well, at least that joke isn’t as stale as Cinder’s lame dress! That thing’s practically just a flavored condom, and not the good tasting kind either!”

“Quite…” Platinum replied, unimpressed. “Oh! Speak of the devil! It looks like Jeeves has our food prepared already!”

“Sautéd chicken pecan parmesan,” the butler announced, somehow carrying seven plates in his arms at once. “With a golden garnish.”

He then took out a solid chunk of gold, a cheese grater, and used them to sprinkle some gold dust onto each of their plates.

“Uh, thanks… I guess,” Blake said awkwardly as she picked up a small chunk of gold off her chicken.

“I see someone has never had high quality cuisine before,” Cinder said as she casually began eating her food - gold included.

“My word! Have you seriously never eaten something with golden garnish on it before?” Platinum asked in shock, causing Blake’s spine to straighten in panic. “What on Remnant do you eat then? Dirt?”

“Don’t ask me - I wouldn’t know,” Cinder replied calmly between bites.

“So, uh, perhaps we could get down to business!” Weiss spoke up. “I am sure you are well aware of how prominent the Saints have become in this city.”

“Oh yes, I have heard quite a lot about you,” Pluribus’s wife replied. “Apparently you control most of the criminal enterprises in Vale now.”

“We are?” asked Ruby. “Oh, right, we are! We’re awesome like that!”

“I’ve also heard that you ruffians have been up to quite a lot of mischief too. And not the good kind,” Platinum interrupted, his mouth full. “Is it true that you ran around in public with your underpants on your head?”

“Well… it was kind of a special circumstance…” Ruby said with a blush.

“Hmm! Such low class…” Cinder scoffed. “I assure you that I still, as always, conduct my work with dignity.”

“Right you are, Cindy!” Pluribus said in agreement, raising his glass.

“Well, I assure you, we can be professional to,” Blake spoke up. “We always complete our jobs, offer the best prices, and we have never failed a single client in any transaction.”

“Oh, of course not!” Cinder agreed with a smile. “Well… except for the Cat House, of course.”

“The what?” Pluribus gasped,

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” Cinder asked, pretending to be shocked. “It was a… gentleman’s club that The Saints took under their wing in in eastern Vale. It was only under their protection for a few days before, well… let’s just say that girls aren’t dancing there anymore.”

“My word! And you consider yourselves to be professionals in the field of protection?” the old man gasped, sputtering a mouthful of chicken. “I hardly see how anyone could make a profit off a property if you fail to protect it!”

“I assure you that was just… the result of extraordinary happenstance,” Weiss replied as calmly as she could, her knife in her hand shaking subtly with rage.

“Ah yes, much like that time you had your main chopshop destroyed, or when a lone woman managed to kill almost all your guards at your headquarters,” said Cinder, the condescension in her voice poking Weiss’s pride like a needle.

“Hey! That was you who did that, bitch!” Yang shouted, squeezing her fork so hard it bent in half.

“I hardly see how that counters my point” Cinder replied smugly.

“And I don’t see why that necessitates swearing!” Platinum’s wife scolded. “You sound just like that dirty Faunus music when you say things like that.”

“Dirty Faunus music?” Blake asked, confused. “Do you mean ‘rap music’?”

“Oh, whatever the ruffians call it,” the wife replied. “I swear that music is absolutely terrible.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” Blake countered, cutting a piece from her chicken. “A… friend of mine actually performs rap for a living.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, dear! I didn’t mean to insult you like that!” the wife quickly apologized. “As long as your friend isn’t  _ actually _ a Faunus, then it’s fine! Even a human doing Faunus music is still better than one of those animals themselves! And good lord, if he was your boyfriend…”

A loud cracking noise suddenly filled the room as the plate Blake was eating on suddenly cracked in half under the force of her utensils.

“Hmm! You are lucky that was just our that was one of our cheaper plates, but you still owe us several thousand Lien!” Pluribus shouted, pointing his fork accusingly.

“Uh… we can pay you back later, right?” Ruby asked nervously. “I kinda left my money at home…”

“What?! My word… to think anyone would leave the house without at least million Lien with them… it’s so uncivilized!” Platinum gasped. “What if you need to make an investment or buy a skyscraper? You’d be totally unprepared!”

“I feel for you, my dear,” Cinder replied before taking out some plastic cards from her bag worth millions of Lien.

“Why, I have half a mind to throw you scoundrels out right n-” Pluribus growled, his voice rising until he finally noticed someone walk into the dinning room behind Ruby. “Oh! Why hello there, Gem, Crystal!”

The group turned around just in time to see two teenagers walk into the room. One was male, had short green hair, baggy green pants, and was wearing a light-green A-shirt - though the first thing the Saints noticed about him was his smell, since he was quite openly smoking Ursa weed. Judging by the bright red around his dark green eyes, he’d been smoking it for quite a while too, though the bored look on his face sure didn’t make him look like he was doing drugs.

The other teenager, a girl with long red hair, was much more upbeat. She was wearing blue jeans and a red and white T-shirt, along with a bright smile that went along well with her blue eyes.

“Hi there, daddy!” the girl greeted. “Are these the guests you were talking about?”

“Why yes, they were, Crystal,” her father replied. “I would like you to meet Cinder Fall and The Saints.”

“The Saints!?” Crystal gasped before she ran over to Ruby. “Oh I thought you guys looked familiar! I am such a big fan of you guys!”

“You are?” Weiss asked, surprised.

“Of course! You guys make the news so much more fun! I’ve seen you guys zooming all our town, shooting people up, going on car chases, blowing things up! It’s awesome!” Crystal exclaimed. “I even got one of your bandanas, I am such a big fan!”

“What.” Cinder said plainly.

“Well, it just so happens that we were discussing a possible business deal with these fine young ladies,” Platinum said with a smile. “Though, I was considering turning them down…”

“Aw… can’t you pick them, daddy?” Crystal asked as she looked up at her father sweetly. “Pretty please? It would make me so happy…”

“... oh, I can’t say ‘no’ to that face!” Platinum eventually responded, giving his daughter a hug. “They’re hired!”

“Yay! Thank you, daddy!” Crystal squeed as she jumped her way gleefully towards Ruby. “Now that you work for us, tell me… how many shots do you fire in a day? Does the Dust you use cost a lot? Do you use your drugs or just sell them? Ooooh, I have so many questions!”

“What!?” Cinder and Weiss both gasped at the same time.

“Sir… forgive me for saying this, but let a child like her make such a big decision like this… it’s insane!” Cinder said, exasperated. “Not to mention that you’re siding with these amateurs so easily…”

“Tut tut tut, Cindy,” Platinum scolded playfully. “You should know better than to insult a man in his own home.”

“Yeah, ‘Cindy’,” Yang agreed swiping the joint out of the son’s hand and taking a good, long puff. “Have some fuckin’ class.”

“Grrr…” Cinder growled before regaining my composure. “My mistake. Thank you for a wonderful dinner.”

She then calmly stood up from her seat and walked out the door, Jeeves escorting her out of the mansion.

“Wow, I can’t believe she just left like that,” Ruby said in disbelief. “I thought for sure she was going to get some revenge or some-”

Ruby was cut off by a massive explosion that shook the whole manor, which was followed shortly by bits of butler flying out the hallway and into the dining room.

“Ooops… never mind,” Ruby said over the sounds of gunfire and more flaming explosions in front of the mansion.

“Yes yes, she always did have a bit of a fiery temper,” Pluribus Platinum said as he returned to his meal, chomping away while his wife sipped calmly on some wine. “Well then? What are you all still sitting around here for? Aren’t you going to do your jobs?”

“Oh, right!” Weiss said as she grabbed a long knife off the table and held it like a rapier. “Don’t worry, sir! You won’t regret partnering with us!”

“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” Crystal said excitedly. “You’re going to go murder some dudes now, aren’t you? Can I watch daddy? Can I please? I wanna see some blood!”

“Oh, go right ahead!” he replied playfully. “Just don’t bring any boys home!”

“Daaaaad!” Crystal whined, Blake and Weiss already outside fighting the Embers off. “Don’t embarrass me in front of cool people!”

“Aaaaaah, I can’t believe that I actually have a fan!” Ruby quietly whispered to her sister. “Should I, like, give her my autograph or something? Do gangsters even do that?”

“As much as I’m sure she’d love one, I have a feeling that she’d be less grateful if it ended up landing her in prison,” Yang replied before returning her Ursa Weed to its owner, who still hadn’t even so much as reacted to the growing gunfire outside. 

“Awww, are you sure?” Ruby whined, her tone mimicking Crystal’s perfectly.

“Sorry, but that’s how it is, Rubes. We’re made for infamy, not fame, and we just have to live with that” Yang replied as she cracked her knuckles. “Though, there’s nothin’ stopping us from having a little fun along the way.”

“Right!” Ruby agreed before dashing out and returning instantly with her guns. “Let’s go have a  _ real _ dinner party!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by Mr. Stark357


	33. Chapter 33

“Vroooooom, vroooom, vroooom!” Ruby mimicked the sound of a car engine by humming to herself while she sat in the driver’s seat. The car may have been stationary in Cardin’s old garage, but her imagination still made the bleak and crowded area entertaining for the time being.

“Hey, quiet down!” Weiss waved her arm over the popped hood with a Dust torch in hand. “It’s bad enough that things are so loud in here! I don’t need your yapping make it even worse!”

“Hey, I can’t help it! I’m just… so excited!” Ruby bounced up and down, while her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. “We’re finally going to take down Cinder and become the crime lords I always knew we could be! Wait, would the correct term be crime baronesses or crime duchesses…”

“Well, if you want us to finish so badly, why don’t you pick up a torch and help?” Yang suggested from the next car over. “That way, you can get Cinder all mopped up and your new tat added even quicker”.

“I’m not sure giving Ruby a stick that can can shoot out bright, hot fire is that good of an idea,” Blake closed the door to the third car behind the other two. She rested her right hand on her hip then redirected her attention toward the others. “Besides, it’s like like Cinder is going anywhere. We can take as much time was we want.”

“But waiting around is so boooring!” Ruby stomped her feet. “It feels like I’ve been waiting a decade to take over this city, and now that it’s so close… oooh, I just feel like I’m going to explode!”

The impertinent gang leader then slammed her fist into the wheel of the car, causing the horn to start blaring and Weiss to hit her head on the red hood above her. This caused Weiss to flinch and drop her torch on the ground, which clanged against the cold concrete as it shut off.

“Ow!” Weiss rubbed the back of her head. “Ruby!”

“Uh… wasn’t me!” Ruby avoided complete eye contact.

“Grr… don’t forget, reinforcing these things was your idea!” Weiss said before getting back to back to work, flicking her torch back on. “And it was bad enough that you blew half of Roman’s money buying all these stupid cars… why did you have to spend the other half making them tougher when we’re just planning on wrecking them all anyways!”

“Well… for my homies, of course!” Ruby gestured enthusiastically towards her employed henchmen. “I care about their safety, you know! Isn’t that right, uh… Iglesias!”  

The white-haired man figured that a crack on the ceiling deserved all of his attention..

“And Jenny!”

The woman shook her head while her right hand rubbed the nap of her neck as she welded.

“And, uh… green-boots-lady.”

The woman chewed a bite of a sandwich and did not turn her attention to their supposed leader. “Okay… I just want them to look even cooler if and when they blow up,” Ruby dropped her hands down into her lap. “And I’m pretty darn sure they’re going to blow up, and I’m even more sure that it is going to be _awesome!_ Plus, they won’t do any damage to Cinder’s compound if they blow up too early.”

“So, that’s are big plan?” Weiss strapped on a welders mask and pushed it down. Sparks flew out as she shouted to everyone else during the conversation.“We just bust in with these hunks of junk, kill Cinder, and burn the whole place down?”

“Hmm… yup, that just about sums it up!” Ruby beamed. “Any problem with that?”

“Yeah! Because that’s not a plan… that’s what kid does to a sand castle when they’re bored!” Weiss slammed the hood of the car down with a loud thud. “There is so much that could go wrong…”

“Nag nag nag nag,” Yang immited with her right hand. “Oh, look at me, I’m Weiss and I always make the same complaints  and I never learn to lighten up!”

“When everything we do that doesn’t end in disaster, then I will _lighten_ up.” “” Weiss tossed her welding equipment to the side, knocking over a tower of tires. “The cars will be ready by morning, right?”

Two hooded Saints swiftly nodded in response, jumping out of the white lieutenant's way as she walked past. One of them shot the other a concerned look. They had the firepower but the Saints leadership… seems to always in some sort of power juggle.

“Good - because I am going to bed,” Weiss stormed  out.

“Nighty-hight, sleeping beauty!” The blonde underboss focused on attaching a jagged metal battering ram to the front of her car. “Careful not to sleep too hard! We wouldn’t want you straining an eyelash.”

A flicker of light whiffed through the air as something heavy and metallic bounced off of Yang’s head.

“Hey! I was joking!” Yang rubbed the back of her head. She looked at the ground to see a wrench on the concrete floor.

“Are you sure that it wasn’t the _other_ Weiss who did that to you?” Weiss slammed the door on her way out.

“I think I better get some nappy time in too before we start. You can wake me once the action starts.” Ruby flipped into her car’s back seat. “Hey, Blake, do you think you could read me another bedtime story?”

“Again?” Blake’s shoulders dropped, leaned her head back and the welding mask stared at the ceiling.

“Pleeeeeease~” Ruby’s eyes glimmered as she lowered her posture. The kind of a wounded puppy pout and for good measure, Ruby’s lips trembled in defeat.

“Alright, fine.” Blake placed her palm over the mask to take it off completely then paced to Ruby’s car. She reached into her back pocket to pull out her Scroll. Blake’s ember eyes reflected the blue glow.  “Once upon a time, there was a little gangstress who was on her way to her ma’s to deliver a fresh basket of drugs... “

* * *

“... and they all lived rappily ever after…” Ruby whispered in her sleep, a soft smile resting on her face as the engine of the car roared. She pulled her fists close to her face, as if they were paws.

Suddenly, the car jumped up into the air and back down, slamming Ruby’s head into the hard ceiling.

“Ow! What the heck?!” Ruby pulled herself off the floor to look out the window and see a wealthy neighborhood of mansions speeding by as explosions went off in the streets. Balls of fire erupted behind and alongside the vehicle. The kind of explosives that had a purpose and that was the fun kind. “What the… we’re at the battle!?”

“Well, yeah,” Yang glanced over her shoulder from the  driver’s seat, swerving back and forth to avoid the endless explosions. She rested a grenade close to her lips. “You told me to wake you when the action started and, well, the action just stared.” The grenade pin was clamped in Yang’s teeth as she tossed it outside. It immediately went off as it shook the car. Yang’s head shook left and right for a moment as she rotated the steering wheel for a hard right turn. Much of the armor they added the previous night was already starting to fall off, littering the road with even more chunks of twisted metal.

“But I haven’t even had breakfast yet!” Ruby rolled to the right side of the back passenger seat. Yang brushed a small grenade case aside while the front passenger seat had a premade bowl full of pink, sugary cereal. Yang secured her grip and drove as straight as possible in order to not let too much of the cereal spill out. “Oh… well, carry on then!”

“Is the boss finally awake?” Weiss clamored out from the next car over. Ruby looked out to see a frustrated Weiss then to have her be blocked out by line of grey smoke. An RPG zoomed by as it struck a car in front of Yang’s. She made a turn in time to avoid the chunks of shrapnel. An Ember’s mangled corpse flew through the air and crashed into a store window.

“Yeah - she’s not quite ready yet, but she’ll be raring to go soon.” Yang punched out the windshield then reached for the lower end of the front passenger. The object she reached for was a submachine gun, the raining brass casings did not annoy Ruby as she strapped her seat belt in the back passenger directly behind the driver’s seat.

“Well, that can’t happen soon enough,” Weiss had to hide her eyes as her windshield was shot out. “We’re going to be at the mansion soon.”

“Breakfast waits for no one, Weiss!” Through a mouth full of sugar, Ruby waved her finger. Yang ran out of ammo as Ruby noticed more ordinance in the back. With one hand, Ruby handed Yang another full loaded SMG.

“Thank you!” Yang unloaded the weapon.

“No prabblrum!”

“Heads down!” Blake ordered as a mounted machine gun tore into the car from above.

“Ooooh, this is so much better than cartoons!” Ruby bounced in her seat, drops of milk flying around the car even faster than the bullets outside. “Do a flip, Weiss!”

Weiss raised a gun in her right hand, middle finger extended along the barrel, before pointing it forward and firing at anyone in orange.

“Aww, that’s not what I meant…” Ruby’s shoulders slumped, not even caring as her skirt began to get soaked. Yang ran out of ammo again, and Ruby knew the drill.

“Hey Rubes, can it be a shotgun this time?”

“Can do!” Ruby took out an automatic shotgun and slid the shells in.

* * *

Cinder looked down out the window of her executive office, watching as bursts of of multi-colored gunfire broke out and a endless wave of red cars slowly crept its way up her long driveway. Along her perfect green yard. Topiaries she had meticulously designed… flowers that she hand picked to be planted… defenses that she carefully arranged… all of them trampled and destroyed under a creeping wave of crimson. And there was nothing she could do but stand there as the office. The air ran thick with smoke and cigarette butts collected on the floor.

“Uh, Cinder, ma’am.” A voice cracked with a knock on her door. “The defenses aren’t holding, and we’re going to be overwhelmed soon.”

“And our calls for help?” Cinder continued to stare at the mayhem below. .

“No response.” The explosions outside were getting louder now, and starting to shake the building.

“Very well then.” Cinder took one last, long drag of her cigarette before snuffing it out in her right hand. “Is my… project ready?”

“Yes it is, ma’am.” Dust bullets were whizzing past Cinder’s window now.

“Very good. You can take the rest of the day off then.” Cinder finally sat down back in her office chair and let the chaos outside just wash over her. There was no turning back now, and she knew it, so she just let her body relax and sink into the cushions of her recliner.

“Thank you, ma’am. Have a wonderful evening,” the voice replied one last time.

“You too.” Cinder reached into a pocket and took out something she never used before - a box of matches. Her orange gloves sat on her desk nearby, discarded an unused.

* * *

“Fall back! Fall back!” A man in a orange suit ordered as he backed into the entrance of the mansion. Most of gangsters he shouted to didn’t seem to be listening, instead either absconding out the windows with whatever valuables the could carry, or  find places to hide. “We can’t let them get to the top floo-augh!”

The man’s sentence would forever remain incomplete, along with his throat, as Blake delivered a bullet made of glass straight to his windpipe. Blood spewed out as he collapsed.

“Hahah! So this is what it’s like to be not-outnumbered for once!” Yang charged in with an SMG in both hands, blasting at anything that remotely resembled an Ember. There weren’t that many left, however, and the ones that were focused more on fleeing than fighting. Yang could even make out a few of them talking about how they would drop their flags, and that they were totally root for the Saints. “I could get used to this!”

“Really? As thickheaded as you are, I assumed you’d miss the challenge,” Weiss walked in over the bodies that littered the floor.

“I mean, yeah, it’ll suck not having a big group of people I can punch up consequence free, but being a real baller has it’s perks too.” Yang put her gun casually over her shoulder as Saints poured into the building. The red-clad gangsters tore up every piece of furniture, kicked open every door, and smashed every window in their hunt to snuff out all the Embers in the building. “I want to be able to walk into a bar, look at the bartender, and have him serve me a drink free of charge - because he’ll know that no one is going to help him if he doesn’t.”

“That’s it?” Weiss swirled her pistol incredulously. “We’re about to take control of one of the biggest cities on Remnant, and the first thing you think about doing with that… is free drinks?”

“Hey, life’s about the little things, you know?” Yang shrugged as the magazines to her SMGs ejected. It loudly _CLACKED_ on the floor as she slid in fresh ammo.

“Okay everyone, I’m here!” Ruby announced in the foyer, SMG in each hand and wiping milk from her lower lip. “Cinder’s not dead yet, is she?”

“Nope - no one’s stolen your kill, little sister.” Ruby waved her arm forward so the rest of the Saints would press the charge. By the time Ruby looked back at her sister, Yang was already fifty feet ahead.

“Hey, no fair! You know that only I get to kill the bosses!” Ruby gave chase, avoiding using her semblance in fear that her sister might attempt to trip her.

“Wait, hold up!” Weiss sprinted after them, her heels clicking on the marble floor just barely audible over the sounds of gunshots. “We haven’t cleared the upper floors yet!”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to do that ourselves,” Blake said plainly as she caught up to her friends.

“Fine… but no getting shot, burned, or mauled, understand?” Weiss pressed her back beside a door as Blake blew out the door hinges then Weiss kicked it down. The door pushed an Ember to the ground as the remaining forces barricade themselves for the assault.

“Saint’s honor!” Ruby gave Weiss a two-finger salute and a wink.

* * *

“Aaaaaaaugh!” a voice screamed right outside Cinder’s door, followed very shortly by the sound of gunshots.

“Looks like my appointment is finally here.” Cinder opened the matchbox and removed a single matchstick, the waxy red head glistening in the dim light of the room. “Best not to keep them waiting.”

She casually turned away from her scenic window then paced calmly to her desk and pressed a button on her desk. It unlocked the doors to her office, but The Saints didn’t seem to care. They smashed the double doors in anyways, sending them rocketing into the room.. One smashed into a bookshelf and toppled it over, loose pages puffed out like confetti as all of Cinder’s favorite stories fell apart. The other door collided directly into her favorite painting, a meticulously painted pumpkin patch, and split it right down the middle. Neither made the last Ember so much as flinch.

“Game over!” Ruby smiled as she pressed the barrels of her guns right up against Cinder’s face, the hot warming the older woman’s cheeks. “We win!”

“Give it up Cinder.” The tip of Weiss’s barrel was much cooler, the magazine much heavier. Cinder could tell the girl was much more careful with her shots, and fire only when she needed to. “There’s no way you can escape now.”

“Just give up your mansion, your money, and your territory, and we might let you go.” Blake’s barrel was hidden behind a silencer, so Cinder couldn’t tell how warm hers was.

“Of course, not that we’d mind if you did put up a fight~” Yang’s barrels seemed to be the middle-ground between Weiss and Ruby’s - she clearly loved shooting, but tended to make sure that every shot hit its mark.

“Alright then.” Cinder’s demeanor remained cool and collected, even with the amount of ordinance pointed directly at her head. “You can have it all.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d s- wait, what?” Ruby was completely taken aback and lowered both of her guns. In en effort to satisfy the boss, she had a bag of ammunition at her back for the four of them. She dropped it to the floor, the magazines, shotgun shells and grenades spilled out. Ruby’s friends were equally shocked then glanced at each other with their faces contorted with confusion. “Did… did you just say you give up?”

“Yes, I did.” Cinder stood up from her chair, only the lone matchstick in her hands. “You can have it all. My art, my money, my gang, my mansion… it’s all yours.”

“Well, that was disappointingly easy.” Yang scratched her forehead with the side of one of her guns, her hips cocked. “I was hoping she’d at least swear at us while we killed her or something.”

“Well… even if she gives up, I want to kill her anyways!” Ruby raised Ogama and Little Red once more, sights trained squarely on Cinder’s heart.

“You can have my life too, if you really want.” Cinder walked back over to her window, the red curtains flanking her as she watched even more Saints stream into the mansion.

“Oh come on!” Ruby shook her fists in anger and kicked over Cinder’s desk and chair, wrecking the room even more. Drawers of contracts blueprints spilled out of the desk onto the floor, littering the ground with pictures of what once was and what could be. “You can’t honestly be stealing my boss fight from me like this! This is just so… boring!”

“Tell me, Ms. Rose… do you believe in destiny?” Cinder’s eyes  gaze fixed on some invisible point on the northern horizon outside her window. “Well, I do. Fate has a funny way of leading you on… making you think you’re getting exactly what you want, only for it to be snatched away at the last second.”

“Don’t you _dare_ talk to me about disappointment.” Weiss stepped forward, her pistol pressing up hard against the underside of Cinder’s chin.

“Heh, you never were the kind of person to accept apologies.” Cinder sighed nostalgically, even with the gun making it hard to move her jaw. “You’ll be happy to know then that this is not an apology. It is more of a… resignation, in many ways. And whether you accept it or not, after today, you won’t have to deal with me ever again. In fact, you won’t have to deal with anyone ever again after this.”

Cinder struck the match against her arm and lit it, a flame quickly rising up out of the lonely stick.

“What are you doing?” Yang eyed the flame curiously, crossing her arms. “Are you having one last smoke? You better not take out one of those overlong cigars…”

“Oh no, I quit smoking just now.” Cinder reached behind one of the curtains and pulled out a long, black chord. “I’m just lighting a candle for one last wish… let’s see if you can blow it out.”

The chord sparked as the flame came in touch, and the fire quickly snaked its way towards the ceiling.

“Shit! It’s a fuse!” Blake panicked and ducked behind Cinder’s old chair for cover. “Someone put it out!”

“I’ve got it!” Ruby fired above the flame with both of her incendiary SMGS, sparks flying as she shot up the wall and shattered Cinder’s office window. She did manage to shoot the fuse in half, but her incendiary rounds caught the wall on fire quickly relit it. Waves of red crawled up the walls and glowed orange behind CInder. The fuse then disappeared into the ceiling and, a few seconds later, a fireball engulfed the entire attic of the mansion.

“Ruby!” Weiss dropped to the floor to avoid the clouds of smoke now filling the room as her white dress appeared grey from the smoke. ”You seriously tried to put out a fuse by _shooting_ at it!?”

“Well… shooting things works most of the time.” Ruby glumly kicked a dozen empty bullet casings like it was snow. . As she spoke, the fire festered then skittered  quickly, burning through the flammable Dust in the foundations Cinder placed  within the walls. It wasn’t long until they could hear the pained screams of Saint enforcers downstairs, several sprinted out in time while many tried desperately to put out all the flames. Some used their jackets and shirts. They were lucky the smoke blocked the scent of cooked flesh.

“I hope you enjoy the mansion while it lasts.” Cinder hadn’t moved from her spot, her gaze still fixed on her window. “It probably won’t be around for much longer.”

“Augh, you fucking bitch!” Yang moved to bash Cinder over the back of her head with one of her guns, but Blake quickly pulled her away by the wrist.

“We don’t have time!” The foundation cracked apart and the ground beneath Blake shook. The gang could feel it wobble back and forth as the foundations began to buckle. “You can fight her outside if she survives!”

“Augh, fine… but you better survive this so I can beat you to death, you hear me!?” Yang was forcefully dragged out of the room and down the burning stairs. The heat was so strong that it was curling their hair even through their auras, which were quickly being depleted from trying to protect them. In the end, the four Saints only barely managed to make it out of the mansion unscathed. Cinder could have easily joined them in front of her mansion by jumping out her window, but she stayed in her office regardless.

“I told you that betraying me would lead to your downfall.” A feminine voice resonated inside Cinder’s head. “Though, not even I could predict a downfall this sudden and spectacular.”

“If I didn’t even try to fight fate, then I would have been as good as dead.” Flames licked  the back of Cinder’s business suit now. The fire  started to creep up her legs, and yet she still did not move.

“My poor little flame… you were dead long ago. You just didn’t know it.” The voice went away as the room got brighter… and brighter…

* * *

The Saints practically collapsed onto the driveway of the mansion as soon as they were out, lungs congested by hot smoke. They all coughed loudly in a desperate attempt to empty them as quickly as possible, but the fresh air couldn’t come fast enough.

“ _Hack!_ Can… can anyone tell how many of our men made it out unburned?” Blake blinked rapidly for everything to regain its clarity and just barely got a good view of the yard.

“I think, maybe… half?” Weiss scanned the yard. It was hard to tell the scorched Ember corpses from the Saints.

“And Cinder? Did she make it out alive?” Ruby eagerly tapped her foot, guns in hand, to see if there was a final counterattack by the Embers.

Seconds later, the hillside rocked as the entire mansion collapsed in on itself, flaming splinters flying into the air as all that was left of the house fell into a ball of fire.

“Shit… did anyone see if Cinder got out?” Yang looked around the front yard of the mansion, but all the Saints shook their heads. No one witnessed her leave, not even the members who arrived when the mansion caught fire. “Well, fuck… I guess that’s it then.”

Beside her, Yang could just barely make out the sound of sobbing coming from the short girl next to her over  the roaring flames.

“Uh… Ruby? Are you alright?” Yang placed her hand onto her sister’s shoulder.

“I… I don’t know why I’m crying…” Ruby wiped a river of tears away from her eyes. “I’m sad that I didn’t get my super cool boss fight… but I’m also happy that we basically rule the city now.”

“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably all the fumes that got into your eyes.” Blake took out a clean handkerchief and wiped Ruby’s cheek  It quickly turned black from the soot.

Behind the group, a small Ember van pulled out of the main driveway. He waved off to the Saints the back of the van was packed with stolen guns and valuables. A few of the other surviving Embers jumped in as it pulled away, one of its tail lights flashing weakly as the car hurtled downhill. Yang almost ordered some Saints to give chase, but instead just waved her hand and they allowed the last Embers to leave. The Embers were toothless and scattered - it didn’t matter what happened to them now.

“Well, either way… we won!” Ruby jumped into the air and pumped her fist triumphantly. She ended up jumping straight into a cloud of smoke, however, so she came down coughing a little. “ _Hack hack!_ Ahem! Tomorrow, we’re gonna hold the biggest, most badass party ever! And the whole gang is invited!” She took a look around and noticed all the dead bodies again. “Uh, what’s left of the gang, anyways.”

“Should I get the streamers ready?” Blake brushed her pants of dust and rubbed her left eye.

“No… we’re not going to have a little kid party this time!” Ruby took a few steps away from the mansion and pointed triumphantly towards the sea. Her eyes glimmered as the stared at the distant waves, just as wild and untamed as she was. “We’re gonna do it… on a yacht!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Beta-read by the awesome and incredibly-helpful The95will (who also writes RWBY fanfics if any of you are interested).
> 
> We are almost done, friends. Just one more chapter. Thank you for sticking with me.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Ideas, questions, concerns? Please let me know in a review or PM!


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